


Elevator to the Moon

by 64907



Series: Elevator to the Moon [1]
Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Anal Sex, Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fingerfucking, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Outer Space, Space Pirates, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:07:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4901437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/64907/pseuds/64907
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Space pirate Matsumoto Jun seeks "the artifact", an unknown item of incomparable value. On his way to find it, he meets all kinds of people. Some he reunited with after so long, others he never met before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This came after I saw Jun's fantastic Come Back to Me costume for Blast in Miyagi. All terminologies you will read are Star Trek ripoffs (I'm unimaginative and I miss being a Trekkie) and I'm sorry about that. Thank you to my beta, Angel, for encouraging me to do this and for sending me HQ photos of Jun in said outfit.
> 
> This story is also posted on [Livejournal](http://64907.livejournal.com/17623.html).

Jun wakes up to Nino’s face all over his viewscreens, his sly smile and perfect teeth making Jun’s eyebrow shoot up.  
  
“I’m not too awake for this,” he admits, grunting as he lowers his legs from the control panel, taking care to avoid hitting any buttons on the console and remove the ship from autopilot. He fell asleep on the captain’s chair again.  
  
Nino only raises an eyebrow back. “I have a job for you, Jun-kun.”  
  
“You always do,” Jun acknowledges with a yawn. He stretches. “Computer, what’s the time and where are we?”  
  
A monotonous female voice answers. “1500 in standard Earth time and three hundred point six miles from the next star system.”  
  
He hears Nino whistle at that. “My research tells me you’re less than seventeen hundred miles away from Volans. Skip Ara and come here. I have a proposition I think you’d like.”  
  
Jun is going to the Ara star system to relax. He has just come back from a job from Matsuoka and his pockets are full. He could use a vacation after nearly getting shot in the ear in that unanticipated shootout from a week ago in one of the many satellites of the sixth planet in the Camelopardalis system.  
  
“What’s in it for me?” Jun asks, cracking his neck joints. He’s got everything he wants. Matsuoka paid him handsomely on account of his prompt completion (with five percent hazard pay), and he is yet to use the money for anything. He’s really looking forward to drinking Aran booze and sleeping with a couple of Arans while he’s at it, but here’s Nino, suggesting an entirely different trajectory.  
  
Nino’s one of the well-known businessmen in the black market. Like Matsuoka, they make their dealings with space pirates and have said pirates procure items of value for them, then once they have the goods, they auction it to the richest and most obscure people of the universe.  
  
Being a space pirate, Jun has encountered too many people like Nino. If Nino wants him on the job, Nino better convince him good.  
  
“Dinner,” Nino says, smirking like the little devil that he is. “Anyway, we’ve been calling it 'the artifact', something of importance to the Corvinians. Nobody knows what the fuck it is, but there are people who are willing to pay more than a fortune just to have it. I need it, and who else will I ask, Jun-kun? You did very well with the Matsuoka job, after all.”  
  
Jun rolls his eyes at the pitiful attempt at flattery, but he does give Nino a meaningful look. “Better make that dinner good.”  
  
When Nino shoots him his trademark salute, he sighs as he orders his computer to map out a change of course from their present location to Volans, something Nino laughs at before finally signing off.  
  
\--  
  
Nino never meant that they were to have proper dinner, and it only took five sips from Jun's personal stock of Arcadian ale (pilfered from a merchant ship half a year ago) before Nino fell back into his usual ways of convincing.  
  
In between Jun's thighs, he's been sucking and pumping Jun's cock for the better part of the hour, his other hand caressing Jun's knee.  
  
This is one of the things Jun likes about Nino aside from giving him job opportunities: Nino's talents extend from sifting through which jobs offer the highest pay to sucking cock better than any sex worker from the Ara star system.  
  
Jun cards his fingers through Nino's hair, marveling at the length it grew in his absence. He strokes Nino's scalp encouragingly, trying his best not to fuck into Nino's promising mouth. Once he does that, it'll be over quick. Nino doesn't waste time, after all.  
  
"You could use a haircut, Kazu," Jun says, biting his lip to prevent a satisfied moan from coming out.  
  
Nino pulls away from him with a soft pop, though his hand still resumes pumping Jun's dick. "My hair's in its resting stage, Jun-kun. You've just been gone for too long."  
  
Jun has Nino's hair in his fist, and he guides his mouth back down. Nino obliges, wrapping his lips around Jun's length and hollowing his cheeks. Jun grunts appreciatively, spreading his legs wider to give Nino more room.  
  
"You're not the only one who requires my expertise," he huffs. If he's gone for a while, it's his line of work calling. He has to hop from one star system to another just to find whatever item the businessmen want to sell in the black market.  
  
Nino's now licking long lines up his shaft, tongue swirling around the head. He laps up the precome at the tip and repeatedly tongues at the slit until Jun throws his head back and gives in to a moan. He missed this. Ara may have more than one popular pleasure planetoid, but what Volans always offers him is Nino making good use of his mouth.  
  
"You could use a navigator," Nino says conversationally, as if he's not reducing Jun to desperate gasps for breaths with each flick of his tongue. "I know you're a hotshot pilot and an equally hotshot pirate, but if, on the average, it takes you sixteen weeks to reach a star system, I suggest a navigator to speed things up."  
  
"I'll think about it," Jun promises, cupping Nino's nape to get his mouth where he needs it. "Deeper now."  
  
Nino shoots him a brief grin before ducking, and this time, Jun doesn't hold back, fucking into Nino till he's sure he's hitting the back of Nino's throat with each thrust.  
  
\--  
  
So Jun accepts the job.  
  
He had parted ways with Nino and the entirety of the Volans star system without much happening. He has the information he needs at the moment, that the ship carrying "the artifact" is traveling from AF-42 Epsilon planetoid in the Caelum star system, approximately four weeks from where he is now if he travels at maximum speed. From there, it will make the delivery at the principal docking station of Corvus, and if Jun wants the job done, he has to intercept the freight ship before it gets to its destination.  
  
Unfortunately, his information isn't enough. He needs more than what Nino had given him, more than trajectories and plotted star charts. He needs ion storm predictions, meteoroid occurrence reports, and other pirates who might be after the same thing.  
  
So he goes to Ohno.  
  
Ohno is the atypical informant, lacking the looks that might hint at his job. He and Jun had met when Jun was eavesdropping on Ohno and a client, back in the days when he still didn't have his own spaceship and was still trying to find his place in their world of outlaws.  
  
Any normal informant would demand pay after learning their private conversation had been overheard , but not Ohno. When the client's men caught Jun, Ohno pretended like they were partners and saved his ass.  
  
Up to this day, Jun still doesn't know why.  
  
But he owed Ohno big time, and now that Jun can actually pay for knowledge, he does so legally (or as legal as their illegal world allows), forwarding credits in exchange for valuable information.  
  
"Ah," is how Ohno welcomes him, six days after Jun accepted the job from Nino. Ohno lives nowadays in one of the planetoids in the Crux belt, only a couple thousand miles from Volans. "You're not the only one after it, Matsujun."  
  
Jun shrugs. "I know that, Leader."  
  
Ohno earned the nickname of Leader in the business because he's actually a pretty reliable guy as long as you got him focused long enough.  
  
Ohno smiles and offers to pay for his second round. They're in Becky's tavern, the establishment where they first met. Jun accepts Ohno’s gracious offer, and they both smile at Becky when she comes to deliver her finest Grus brandy.  
  
"Imported, not pilfered, so this is going to cost you both," she informs them. Ohno was the one who had introduced Jun to her, and since then, the three of them had entered into an understanding: if Jun's around, they'd catch up.  
  
He and Ohno simply raise their glasses in acknowledgement and she laughs before leaving them. Not for long, Jun’s certain, but long enough for them to talk about the matter at hand.  
  
“What have you got?” Jun asks. He takes a sip from his glass and he savors the burn as it travels down his throat. Finest indeed.  
  
“Possible freight carriers,” Ohno answers, wincing as soon as he took his own shot.  
  
Jun frowns. From what he gathered from Nino, “the artifact” was carried by one freighter, which is typical. And now here was Ohno, telling him that there were other spaceships involved. He hadn’t signed up for an ambush or a trap. He was wanted in twelve star systems and Corvus is one of them.  
  
“How many?” He turns to Ohno as he traces the rim of his glass. He supposes Nino hadn’t informed him of the complications of the job because he knew how much Jun liked a challenge and the thrill that it brought him.  
  
That, or the fact Jun forgot to ask the specifics because he was too busy stuffing Nino’s mouth with his cock the last time they saw each other.  
  
Ohno looks around discreetly before talking. “Four to my knowledge. It’s to ensure maximum security. The item is of high priority to the Corvinian government. I don’t know what it is and I don’t think anybody does, but that doesn’t stop people from wanting it, not when the black market is waiting.”  
  
Jun takes another sip, this time wincing as he feels the hot liquid run down his throat. Becky was right about this stuff. He and Ohno better make it up to her really well. “You have the trajectories, the names of the ships, fellow outlaws— everything I need?”  
  
Ohno smiles. He gives the slightest head tilt, and it’s all Jun needs.  
  
“How much?” he asks, finishing his drink before slamming the glass down the table. He’s slightly tipsy, but not drunk that he can’t do what he’s supposed to after this.  
  
“If you can get the item, fifteen percent of what Nino’s paying you for it,” Ohno says, face scrunching as the burn of the alcohol courses through him. “Nino’s a good businessman, and while he’s shrewd, I know he wouldn’t dupe you. Fifteen.”  
  
Fifteen’s a lot, assuming he’s getting a lot. And he will, because Nino makes good on his promised pay. If Jun delivers “the artifact” ahead of time, he gets a ten percent bonus. That should be enough to ensure his happy retirement in one of the planetoids in Pyxis. In his line of work, it’s common for people to become businessmen in the black market trading as a form of retirement, but Jun actually wants a clean slate. A place to call his own with nothing but the stars he loves looking at surrounding him.  
  
Being aboard his spaceship, Paradox, offers him that, but he wants to do away with the possibility of capture and lifetime incarceration. A high-security prison isn’t his ideal place to spend the rest of his days.  
  
“Done,” Jun agrees, and beside him, Ohno slams his glass down the counter to acknowledge their deal. Ohno knows that Jun has a very high success rate despite his inability to properly navigate around ion storms. He wouldn’t be wanted in twelve star systems if he hadn’t stolen valuable stuff ahead of anyone else.  
  
With both glasses empty, they head for Becky’s office in the second floor, with Ohno ushering him to go first.  
  
“That took a while,” Becky says as a form of welcome. She’s perched on her desk, her long legs in her high heels dangling a few inches off the floor. Jun immediately inclines his head in apology. She waves it off with a smile. “How are the stars, Matsujun?”  
  
“Still shining,” Jun says, just as Ohno closes the door. “Ever think about seeing them sometime?”  
  
Becky laughs. “And be a pirate? Nah. I have a establishment to maintain, some outlaws to get money from as they waste themselves away with the help of whatever liquor I have to offer. I am my own boss and I like it that way. But I did miss you and Ohno-kun here.”  
  
Jun reaches down to grasp her wrist, lifting her hand up to his lips and kissing her knuckles. Behind her, Jun sees Ohno moving to stand behind her, already brushing her hair away from her shoulders and exposing her neck.  
  
“I’ve been gone for too long, huh?” Jun murmurs, and she and Ohno both nod. The last time he was here, he hadn’t even taken the Matsuoka job yet. “Got a lot to make up for, then.”  
  
He spreads Becky’s legs and kneels before them, carefully removing her heels and planting a soft kiss to her calf. He maneuvers so he can place both of her legs on his shoulders, kissing his way to the insides of her thighs while his hands busy themselves with undoing the knots of her skirt.  
  
When Jun looks up, he sees her head thrown back with Ohno’s lips attached to her neck. Jun smiles. The usual pattern whenever he’s around.  
  
He manages to pull one string out of its intricate knot before Becky bats his hand away. She’s distracted by Ohno’s mouth, now kissing and licking its way along the curve of her shoulder.  
  
“Don’t remove them,” Becky tells him with her eyes shut tight. “I still have a shift after this.”  
  
Jun kisses her knee to express his understanding. He lifts her skirt up until he can see her in her silken underwear, and the only warning he offers is spreading her legs wider before pressing his tongue against her.  
  
She pulls him closer by bending her leg at the knee, resting the limb on his shoulder. Jun licks at her already dampening center, the tip of his tongue poking at her clit despite the material that separates him from it. Becky lets out a breath.  
  
One of her hands reaches down to grasp a handful of his hair, pushing him closer, and Jun takes the hint. He uses his thumb to push her panties aside, just enough to expose her, and he presses his tongue firmly against her clit.  
  
Becky arches off the table and Jun has to grab her hip to steady her as he continues tasting her. She’s so wet for both of them, and when Jun darts a glance upwards, he finds Ohno swallowing her satisfied moans with his mouth, his tanned hands pinching her nipples under her top.  
  
He feels Becky’s heel jab a little forcefully on his back and this time, he fucks her with his tongue, lapping her up and keeping his thumb hooked on the side of her underwear so it doesn’t get in the way. When her thighs begin shaking as a result of his efforts, he pulls away.  
  
“Keep still,” he reminds her, waiting until she meets his eyes before he repeats it. Ohno presses a reassuring kiss to her temple and she nods.  
  
Jun lets go of her hip to offer three of his fingers to Ohno. “Suck.”  
  
Ohno has to lean forward to do so, and for a moment, Jun wonders what it would feel like to have Ohno’s mouth around his dick that’s currently straining inside his pants. Sometimes he thinks he should ditch the tight pants, especially when he’s bound to get busy, but it has become his signature look along with Paradox, so he doesn't.  
  
After all, reputation and image make the pirate.  
  
Sufficiently wet, Jun inclines his head to Ohno in thanks, and he only meets Becky’s eyes briefly before he inserts a finger into her. It slides in quickly, and he ducks down to lick at her clit as he adds another one.  
  
Soon enough she’s riding his fingers, and Jun inserts a third one, fucking her steadily as he swirls his tongue around her clit. Jun can feel her contracting around him, squeezing him tight, and he doubles his efforts, going faster, wanting to feel her come.  
  
“Jun,” she whispers, and a few beats after, Jun feels warmth coating his fingers and later, his tongue. Becky caresses his scalp in thanks, smiling at the sight of him glistening when he pulls away.  
  
Jun licks his lips followed by his fingers, savoring her taste. He withdraws from her, lowering her legs back on the desk.  
  
"How many minutes till your next shift, Becky?" Ohno asks, lips attached to her ear. His hands are on her shoulders, rubbing in circles and helping her calm down.  
  
"I own this place; I decide that," Becky says breathlessly. Jun catches Ohno smiling at that.  
  
“Can we?” Ohno asks. He always does. Becky’s head is now resting against Ohno’s shoulder, her breathing still ragged thanks to their combined efforts.  
  
She nods after a few moments, and Jun slips his hands under her skirt to remove her underwear. He and Ohno maneuver Becky’s body so she has both her head and her legs on the edges of the desk.  
  
Jun offers a fist to Ohno silently. They always did janken for it, but before they could start with rock, Jun gets a light kick to his chest.  
  
“You have a lot to make up for, remember?” Becky reminds him, and when Jun turns to Ohno, the informant simply grins, his hands already undoing his pants.  
  
Jun does the same, and he sighs at the momentary comfort when his cock is finally free from its confines. He’d been hard ever since Becky called his name, and Jun has to admit, he had missed them both. While he liked his profession, it also came with missing a lot of people.  
  
Ohno throws a packet to him, something he catches with little trouble, and he inclines his head in thanks. Just when he’s about to roll the condom on, he hears Ohno make a pleased groan as he fucks into Becky’s willing mouth.  
  
Jun raises an eyebrow briefly. They’re getting started without him in an attempt to tell him to hurry up. They always did that whenever he moved too slow for them both.  
  
He raises both of Becky’s legs, kissing her knee as he begins to push in, something that makes her moan around a mouthful of Ohno. Ohno’s hand is resting lightly on her neck, his thrusts turning shallow and slow as they both wait for her to adjust to the feeling of Jun.  
  
Jun kisses Becky’s thigh to distract her, and simultaneously, he catches Ohno reaching down to tweak one of her nipples. She arches, and Jun pulls out only to slam back in, making her claw at the polished surface of her desk.  
  
All of Becky’s moans are muffled by Ohno’s cock inside her mouth, and Jun’s pretty certain Ohno likes how she ends up humming around him. Jun has been on that end more than once and it’s as good as being where he is at the moment.  
  
He meets Ohno’s eyes, and together they pull out of her at the same time and thrust back with no warning. Becky’s hot and tight around him, and getting worked up from earlier means that if he fucks her like he means it, he’ll go ahead of Ohno.  
  
Somehow, in his absence, he wants to last longer so this can be something he will remember when he’s otherwise preoccupied.  
  
In front of him, he sees Ohno’s thrusts gradually becoming faster, his breathing getting heavier. Jun watches as Becky lifts her hand to cup one of Ohno’s ass cheeks, like she’s guiding him how to fuck her mouth properly.  
  
That sight spurs Jun on, slamming into her with enough force that he’s certain it was him that had made the desk creak. Having both of her legs on his shoulders gives him the leverage to drive in faster and harder into her, something he does when he hears her choked moans as Ohno doesn’t let up and grows more desperate.  
  
“Fuck,” Jun hears Ohno breathe, his head thrown back as Becky continues moaning around him. Having her like this, spread, open, and willing for the both of them makes Jun snap his hips faster, his large hands clinging tightly to the back of her knees.  
  
Jun knows the telltale signs of Ohno close to an orgasm, and like always, it begins with the fluttering of his eyelids. Ohno always comes with eyes open, looking at whoever his partner is (or are in this case) and letting them know through his eyes alone how good it felt.  
  
The sight of it now, of Ohno’s nearly black eyes staring straight through him as he curses for one last time and comes is what makes Jun come too, driving in so deep into Becky that he’s sure he shifted the desk despite Becky’s weight on it.  
  
He hears Becky laugh as soon as Ohno pulls away, and he sees Ohno dropping to his knees to kiss her forehead. “That was good,” Becky tells them as Jun pulls out. He presses one last kiss to her calf before he lowers her legs to get rid of the condom.  
  
When he turns back to them, Ohno’s already helping Becky sit up and fix her clothes. Jun approaches them to help her with her underwear, sliding it up her legs and tapping on her hip twice when she doesn’t lift her hips up immediately.  
  
“Good enough for a make up?” Jun asks, and he sees them both grin.  
  
“That should tide us over,” Becky says, turning to Ohno, “right, Oh-chan?”  
  
Ohno just laughs.  
  
\--  
  
Ohno forwards him all the information he needs, though Jun only parts ways with him and Becky after Becky gives him one bottle of Grus brandy.  
  
“If you want more, you know where to go,” she told him with a wink.  
  
Any goods from Grus are hard to come by given the highly-advanced artillery of their merchant ships. There’s a reason Becky imports the brandies; attempting to steal them usually results in untimely death.  
  
Jun departs the vicinity of Crux and places his ship on autopilot as he checks the information Ohno had for him. Four possible cargo ships but only one carries the prize. Like every other valuable item, each ship comes with armed escorts in the form of guard shuttles, trained to kill any unidentifiable ship who try to interfere with the mission.  
  
“Fuck,” Jun curses, shaking his head as he reads on.  
  
From Ohno’s file, Jun learns that the four spaceships will depart from Caelum at the same time but will go separate ways as soon as they depart the star system. Each ship has designated stopovers until they reach their destination, meaning, if Jun wants “the artifact”, he had to be certain he was intercepting the right ship.  
  
Ohno gave him the routes of all four ships, but he can’t possibly intercept all of them. Whoever planned the delivery was one clever bastard. Just checking the star charts has Jun with his tongue against his cheek in annoyance. Ship number one promises four ion storms, number two has two meteor showers and one asteroid belt to pass through, three has two stopovers in different star system patrol stations, and the fourth one…  
  
“Ah,” Jun says, unable to help the grin forming on his face. The fourth one will pass close to the rogue black hole that formed a few hundred miles from the Phoenix star system before eventually stopping over at the high-security prison located there.  
  
“Computer, prepare a route to the Phoenix prison,” he orders, and the same monotonous voice that is the Paradox’s AI acknowledges.  
  
“The artifact”, whatever it is, won’t be leaving from Caelum. Reading Ohno’s file made Jun realize that the item itself will come from the prison, and he supposes paying attention to Corvinian politics helped a little. Corvus had experienced a star system war more than twenty years ago, and their then-leader turned dictator was incarcerated in the highest security prison in space: the one in Phoenix. If “the artifact” is of utmost importance to the Corvinian government, it must be something the tyrant held on to until his death.  
  
Still, this is just a theory, and so Jun makes a call.  
  
He’s greeted by a smiling face as soon as the call patches through.  
  
“Aiba-san,” Jun greets, and Aiba waves.  
  
Aiba shoots one glance on his lap before grinning. “You on your way to Phoenix?”  
  
Jun smiles back. Aiba always knew how to read him. Out of all the people Jun was in frequent contact with, Aiba Masaki was one of the very few who knew what was going on in his mind even before he acted on it. “I think whatever Nino wants me to get will come from there, but I got to be sure.”  
  
“Hah!” Aiba says, pointing at him with a finger. “So you want me to check the whereabouts of whoever else is after it!”  
  
“Precisely.” Jun can’t deny anything at this point, and so he just sits back on his chair, leaning and waiting for Aiba to get his computers ready. If there’s anyone who can tell him where the hell these people in Ohno’s list of ‘pirates after the same thing’ are, it’s Aiba.  
  
Aiba’s a pretty talented hacker of systems (codename Experiment Result) and Jun always thought he was lucky he’d grew up in the same planetoid as him. They go way back because of their shared childhood, and so Aiba never refuses any favor Jun might ask of him.  
  
“We’re up and ready,” Aiba informs him some minutes later, and Jun promises to thank him by dropping by to visit. His mapped out trajectory to Phoenix prison shows that he will get to stopover at their home planetoid to catch up. Aiba simply flashes him a thumbs up.  
  
“Ikuta,” Jun says, smiling. The first guy on Ohno’s list is none other than Toma, another childhood friend of his and Aiba’s. Toma’s an equally skilled space pirate, but unlike Jun, he delivers assignment on time and never ahead of it. Toma asks for extensions when necessary, always honest and never trying to find out what the cargo is, and among the outlaws Jun knows, Toma might be one of the nicest ones.  
  
Aiba laughs as he types code after code. “Toma-chan’s sneaking up huh. When was the last time you guys were both after the same thing?”  
  
“The last time I accepted a job from Nino,” Jun says. He still remembers that one. It was the one time he had to steal the crown of a monarch during her coronation. The chaos he caused at the time had Nino doubling over in laughter as soon as Jun had delivered the tiara to his hands.  
  
Nino’s job offers tends to coincide with Toma’s choices because Toma picks the jobs that doesn’t involve him risking his life too much. Possible imprisonment is okay because like Jun, he can spring himself out of most jail cells, but anything including shootouts, they both try to avoid.  
  
For Jun, if he lives to tell the tale, it’s mighty time to celebrate, which is why he sought to get drunk and find someone to fuck as soon as he got his pay from the Matsuoka job, but since Nino so kindly offered him an alternative, here he is.  
  
Aiba hums. “Got him. On his way—” Aiba pauses, squints, and a slow smile creeps on his face. “Here,” he finishes, meeting Jun’s eyes. “Guess he’s not the only one who’s on his way to meet an old friend?”  
  
Jun frowns. “Why see you personally if he can call you? Unless you’ve got something Toma wants aside from your skills?”  
  
Aiba just grins. “Always so suspicious, Mattsun! Don’t worry. The only thing I have right now is the knowledge that you and Toma-chan are after the same thing and that like you, he’s on his way to see me, though he’s probably coming to ask what I know.”  
  
“And what do you know, Aiba-san?” Jun’s eyes narrow. Aiba wouldn’t be so vague and hint about something if he didn’t have anything.  
  
“That they’ve raised the bounties on all active space pirates because whatever it is you’re looking for because Nino asked you to, it’s top priority.” Aiba points to him, indicating that his bounty has been raised too. Jun wonders if they added new star systems to his count of twelve. “It must get to Corvus, at least that’s what the partially corrupted file I downloaded on accident the other day tells me. They’re doing everything they can so that it will arrive safely in the hands of the Corvinian dynasty.”  
  
“That precious huh?” Jun asks as he examines his cuticles. He’s not surprised. Nino asked him to steal a tiara once. “And? Any new places I have to be careful around?”  
  
Aiba’s lip quirks up. “Here.” At the sight of Jun’s frown, his grin grows wider. “You’re wanted here, Mattsun. So unless you’ve got a functional cloaking device, you’re bound to get intercepted. It’s the prison for you.”  
  
“What about Toma? He’s not wanted there?” Jun glances at his plotted route. It’s not too late to change it, but then again, if his goal is to get inside the prison in the first place, getting captured is the easiest option. Breaking himself out, that’s going to be the problem.  
  
“Not as much as you are,” Aiba informs him. “While I do miss you, because you’re such a jerk that you never bother to say hello whenever you’re flying by, I don’t recommend being a Phoenix inmate. I only ever heard bad stories about those who are serving a sentence in there.”  
  
“Say, Aiba-chan,” Jun begins, peering at Aiba under his lashes, “how good are your hacking skills exactly?”  
  
It takes a moment for Aiba to understand, but when he does, he laughs. “If we get caught…”  
  
“We won’t,” Jun counters immediately. “It depends on how good you are, that’s why I’m asking. I believe we won’t if we’re careful enough.”  
  
“Good,” Aiba says, answering his question. “Enough to get you past the security doors, to give your ship clearance to enter the docking bay. It will take me hours to crack the prison system, but it’s nothing I can’t crack.” Aiba eyes him for a few moments. “Sure you don’t want to know your other competitors? You still have a few names on that list.”  
  
Jun looks down and skims through the names. Some are familiar because he has stolen jobs from them more than once and they swore to kill him the next time they see him, but others were names he never heard of. “I’ll forward the list to you. You better have something when I get there.”  
  
“Matsujun,” Aiba says, his voice full of affection, “when did I ever not have something for you whenever you’re here?”  
  
\--  
  
His cloaking device works in top shape and so he’s able to land in his homeland planetoid without alerting the patrolling officers of the Phoenix star system. From time to time Jun finds it odd that he hails from the same place that has the highest security prison, but on most days he finds the irony something to laugh at, especially when he escapes their pathetic attempts to capture him.  
  
Nino wasn’t exaggerating when he called him a “hotshot pilot”, and Jun has managed to avoid close encounters from the authorities multiple times. Paradox had some damages of course, but nothing he can’t patch up or pay people to repair.  
  
“I’ve grouped all the names in your list for convenience,” Aiba says a form of welcome, after he finished hugging Jun so tight that Jun couldn’t breathe for a few moments. “I’ve indicated who’s following spacecraft number one, two, three, and four, and I feel as if I should inform you that everyone who’s following four are names I’ve heard of.”  
  
Jun expected that. If Aiba heard of the name, it’s a veteran. Only veterans will figure out that something is fishy about the whole delivery given the stopovers.  
  
He glances at the door to Aiba’s workshop before turning back to Aiba. “Computer, enable security.”  
  
Aiba’s personal AI has an interactive female voice, as enthusiastic as the guy who designed her and nothing like Jun’s impersonal Paradox AI. “Understood!” it tells him happily.  
  
Jun moves in Aiba’s space. Aiba, for his part, only looks at him. He’s currently sitting in the only chair in the room. The “workshop”, as Aiba calls it, consists of four tables with different kinds of computers for hacking and only one chair with wheels.  
  
“You didn’t have to lock it,” Aiba says, just as Jun reaches out to stroke the sides of his face. Aiba has always been the attractive one, but it’s not just his face that makes Jun come back to his hometown every now and then.  
  
Sometimes, Jun wishes Aiba liked interstellar travel as much as he did, just so he can show the stars, the places he has seen that they only talked about when they were children. But Aiba’s happy to remain in an obscure planetoid and make his legacy in the digital realm, and Jun has accepted long ago that if homesickness hits, it’s not really the planetoid he grew up in that he wants to see.  
  
It’s Aiba.  
  
“Force of habit,” Jun says as an explanation about the door. So many of his escapades involved interruptions, and right now, with him standing between Aiba’s legs and running his fingers over Aiba’s face, he really doesn’t want any form of disturbance. He might shoot the cause in his frustration. He does tend to get easily irritated.  
  
Aiba’s hand reaches for the phaser attached to Jun’s belt, pulling it out and placing it on the desk. “How many times did this one save your ass?”  
  
Jun grins, taking one more step forward so he’s as close to Aiba as possible. “Not as much as you saved mine with those talented fingers of yours.”  
  
Aiba laughs, his head thrown back, laugh lines surrounding his eyes. “You’re such a jerk.” Aiba shakes his head. “Whatever you’ve got in mind, better make it quick.”  
  
Jun leans down to press a kiss to Aiba’s forehead before sinking to his knees, his hands on Aiba’s thighs. He spreads them to have more room, and Aiba just watches, not saying anything.  
  
“Why don’t you read to me where the other pirates are while I do this?” Jun suggests, his fingers already hovering on Aiba’s zipper. “Call it multitasking.”  
  
Aiba giggles and turns back to one of his monitors. “And to think, I even saved the file and sent it to you.” He clicks his tongue, but he reads anyway. “You already know Toma-chan’s on his way here.”  
  
Jun hums as an affirmation and because he has successfully unzipped Aiba. Aiba’s already half-hard, and Jun runs the heel of his palm over Aiba’s erection until he hears Aiba take a deep breath.  
  
“Kamenashi, you’ve heard of him,” Aiba says, obviously trying to get his voice even. Jun has now pulled him out of his boxers. “He’s eight point nine hundred miles away from here.”  
  
“That’s slow,” Jun murmurs. He meets Aiba’s eyes as he licks his palm and finally wraps it around Aiba’s cock. He pumps slowly just to reiterate his point. “If he wants it, he should be ahead of me.”  
  
“Spaceship malfunction,” Aiba informs him, now breathing heavily. When Jun raises an eyebrow, he explains, “I research things thoroughly, you know this, and I found out that his ship had to go for repairs.”  
  
Jun nods. “One of the many things I like about you, Masaki, is that you’re very thorough.” He thumbs at the slit of Aiba’s cock, precome clinging to his fingertip before letting Aiba go and licking his thumb for show.  
  
“Asshole,” Aiba says, but Jun knows he doesn’t mean it. Jun sucks on his thumb, never looking away from Aiba’s eyes. He wets his lips before putting his hand on Aiba again.  
  
“Next?” he prompts, resuming his slow strokes.  
  
Jun can see the veins on Aiba’s pretty neck when the man turns to his side, how he’s clenching his jaw to prevent any reactions from coming out. “Mizukawa. You remember her, don’t you, Jun-tan?”  
  
There it is, the nickname Aiba loves using whenever Jun’s doing this. “Yeah. She shot me in the shoulder once.” The wound wasn’t life-threatening, something Asami-chan (she’ll kill Jun if she ever learns Jun refers to her that way) did when Jun double-crossed her in a supposed partnership. Jun’s certain if she ever sees him again, she’s going to kill him.  
  
“Five hundred miles closer than Kame,” Aiba says, biting his lip. “Heard she got new thrusters and found a new navigator.”  
  
Well, that’s one step ahead. “Nino tells me I can use a navigator,” he informs Aiba before darting his tongue out and flicking it over the sensitive head of his cock. “Know any good ones?”  
  
“Good ones are all taken,” Aiba says, hissing through his teeth. Jun takes pity on him and finally wraps his lips around Aiba’s length, ducking down to accommodate more of it in his mouth. “Jun…”  
  
“The next one,” Jun whispers as reminder, pulling away and wetting his lips. “Don’t get distracted now, Masaki.”  
  
“Fuck you,” Aiba counters, laughing a little. “You’re going to love this next one though. Meisa-chan.”  
  
Jun has a mouthful of Aiba’s cock and he stops sucking to meet Aiba’s eyes. He frowns in question before pulling away, licking away the glistening thread of saliva still attached to his lip. “Didn’t she get hitched? Wasn’t she supposed to be settling down now that she’s married?”  
  
Meisa has Jun’s respect because she’s one of the very few people who can drink him under the table.  
  
Aiba flashes him a grin. “Not if you married another pirate and you compete for the prize as a way of bonding.”  
  
“Fuck that,” Jun says, a little annoyed. “Where’s her husband?” Jun has had a few altercations with Akanishi in the past, but they never got into whipping their phasers out and pointing them at each other’s face.  
  
“Following spaceship number three.”  
  
Jun shakes his head before pressing his tongue on the base of Aiba’s cock and licking up to the tip. He swirls his tongue over the head, lapping up the precome as his hand continues pumping the now spit-slickened shaft. “She has the upper hand in this, having a partner who follows another suspicious spaceship.”  
  
Aiba groans, and that makes Jun smile. “Next,” he prompts with a squeeze around Aiba’s dick. He shares one look with Aiba before taking him in his mouth again, this time humming and hollowing his cheeks. His hand moves down to cup Aiba’s balls, caressing them as his head continues bobbing.  
  
Above him, Aiba’s shaking. Jun can hear his hissing intakes of breath, can see how he fists at his sides to avoid touching Jun. Aiba’s self-control is crumbling, and soon, Jun’s sure, Aiba will just give in and fuck his mouth.  
  
He takes Aiba in as far as he can, till he’s got the tip of Aiba’s cock poking his throat. He pulls away when he nearly chokes, blinking back some tears. Aiba has always been bigger than the ones he was used to, and if he’s not careful, there’s that chance he’d embarrass himself.  
  
“Next,” he repeats before ducking down again, this time bobbing his head faster and sucking harder, humming as his lips move smoothly over Aiba’s length.  
  
“Kato,” Aiba says breathlessly. His thighs are shaking, and Jun knows he’s close. “Shige-chan, you know him, right?”  
  
Jun simply hums around Aiba’s cock to say yes. He takes Aiba deep into his mouth, till he’s practically nuzzling the coarse, wiry hair at the base.  
  
“Jun,” Aiba moans, his hand finally cupping Jun’s nape. Jun places one of his hands on top of Aiba’s, and Aiba looks down, meeting his eyes.  
  
He just blinks slowly to indicate what he wants before letting go of Aiba’s hand. Aiba’s hips surge forward, searching for warmth, and Jun just tries to keep his jaw slack and open as Aiba chases after his orgasm. His other hand remains on Aiba’s balls, fondling them and helping along.  
  
“Fuck,” Aiba’s cursing, other hand stroking Jun’s cheekbone. His thrusts are fast and hard that he’s practically fucking Jun’s face, and with the way his hold on Jun’s hair tightens, Jun knows he’s about to come. “Fuck, fuck, Jun, Jun—”  
  
Jun just hums and that does it. Aiba comes hard, straight down Jun’s throat and Jun diligently takes it all, keeping his throat open as he feels Aiba’s cock twitch. In his hand, Aiba’s balls are still tense, and Jun simply caresses them to completion and continues humming, letting Aiba use his mouth thoroughly.  
  
Aiba sags against his chair after and Jun slowly withdraws from his softening cock. He catches Aiba’s gaze before licking one long line from tip to the base, tongue following the vein with familiarity. He drops one last kiss to the head before finally pulling away and licking his sore, overused lips.  
  
Jun’s caring enough that he helps tuck Aiba in, even patting the man’s sides as soon as he got him zipped up. Aiba’s still flushed and breathing hard, and Jun really loves looking at him like this: the post-orgasmic look that he has for Jun after Jun reminds him how good he is with his mouth.  
  
“So,” Jun begins, voice hoarse, “what about Shige?” He stands, trying hard to ignore his own straining erection. He’s about to step away when Aiba reaches out and grabs his wrist, pulling him back.  
  
“Only six hundred miles behind you.” Aiba gestures to his dick, its outline obvious in his tight pants. “Need a hand?”  
  
Jun rolls his eyes. “I could use more than a hand.”  
  
The answering grin Aiba has for him makes him think that maybe he should feel more homesick even when he’s busy chasing after the stars.  
  
\--  
  
Because Aiba is Aiba, to Jun’s knowledge, at present there’s only pirate who’s more or less as far as he is in the Phoenix star system. Sakurai’s a name he heard before, but he has never encountered the guy.  
  
Jun knows him as the prick who’s probably rich enough to buy the planetoid Jun wants for himself, that sweet promise of retirement he’s looking forward to. Because Sakurai’s clever and only takes the highest paying jobs. His methods are to never engage in combat but steal the item right before everybody’s eyes. He’s crafty and skilled that it annoys Jun because how can one outlaw be ahead of all the other outlaws? It’s just not fair.  
  
Also because Sakurai’s popular, only the risk takers ever compete against him. Jun’s pretty sure Sakurai has stolen two or three jobs from him before, jobs that could’ve helped him save up sooner if only that asshole and his ship, Take Off (who the fuck names their ship that way?), didn’t interfere.  
  
If Jun ever meets him, he hopes he’s the one who has “the artifact” in his hands just so he can gloat and rub it on Sakurai’s face.  
  
Unfortunately for him, that’s unlikely because while he did get Aiba’s help and managed to enter the Phoenix prison undetected, there was one new installment to the prison security system that Aiba only found out when Jun’s inside.  
  
So he’s where he is right now, stuck in a damn jail cell with a female inmate who introduces herself as Shibasaki.  
  
“How did you get caught?” Shibasaki asks him and he sighs.  
  
“The third security measure,” he says. The first one was a piece of cake. Once Aiba hacked into the system, Jun was granted immediate entry. The second one took a bit of time, but he managed to slip past its defenses as soon as Aiba installed a virus into the system.  
  
What he and Aiba had both overlooked was the backup system that was enabled as soon as the virus worked. Now Jun is where he is and Aiba’s probably racking his brains and breaking his fingers as he types code after code to spring Jun out. Hopefully it would be soon, or else he’s fucked big time and his prize, the key to his retirement, “the artifact” will probably go to that prick Sakurai.  
  
“No one enters a prison willingly, Matsumoto,” Shibasaki tells him. This prison system ensures the best behavior of its inmates by enabling linked cuffs that contain their identification. Jun can run a few paces away from his cell mate, but if he ever tries to get past the main prison doors, he better make sure he has the damn cuff link destroyed and not around his wrist or else he’ll end up paralyzing himself and alerting security.  
  
“Not when I’m here to look for something,” Jun answers. She smiles and walks over to where he is, holding out her wrist.  
  
“I can spring us out of here,” she tells him, and Jun raises an eyebrow in distrust. If she can do that, why not earlier? Why wait till she’s got a cell mate?  
  
“Really,” he says disbelievingly, and she raises an eyebrow back.  
  
“I’m not the one who got captured because of lack of research,” she snaps. “I’m here because I was looking for intel, and now it’s time to go.”  
  
Jun sneers. “And you need bait, is that it? Get yourself out and leave me stuck here, laughing at my sorry ass as you take off to the stars? Not buying it.”  
  
She tilts her head at him, clearly unimpressed. “In case you haven’t realized, this prison makes sure all the despicables are kept inside using the cuffs. One cuff for each person, containing all known information about them, even the reward money. I’m sure the people who caught you are now negotiating for the reward money.”  
  
Jun’s lips twitch in annoyance. News must be spreading that Matsumoto Jun the space pirate is presently incarcerated in the Phoenix star system prison. Nino would probably send flowers just to piss him off.  
  
“Anyway,” Shibasaki continues, “you know you can’t go anywhere without your cell mate. It’s a buddy system in this hellhole. I was waiting for months before they gave me someone, and now that person is you. Now you’re going to help me get the fuck out of here.”  
  
Jun gives her one long look. “How? If you can hack into the system and disable these cuffs as soon as we’re out, well and good. If not, then sorry to say but we’re waiting for some outside interference or some miracle that will disable the systems long enough so we can escape. Can you even hack?”  
  
She grins, and it’s one full of confidence. “I can do better than that.” Jun frowns, but she just smiles wider. “I can get us into the system.”  
  
“That’s called hacking,” Jun states, but she clicks her tongue at him.  
  
“Not when you’re doing it from the inside. You in?”  
  
Jun thinks about the offer. “If we get out, how do I repay you?”  
  
She snorts. “You have a ship, right?”  
  
Jun doesn’t want to think of Paradox now. Who knows if they dismantled it? But that’s assuming his cloaking device stopped working. If it’s still functional, then his beloved ship is still hidden somewhere in the prison docks, undetected. “Yeah. If they haven’t touched it, it’s an escape ship.”  
  
“Give me a ride when we get out,” she says, tilting her head for him to follow her. “Now listen to me and do exactly as I say.”  
  
\--  
  
Kou’s plan is simple (she allowed Jun to call her that): fake an ion storm.  
  
Ion storms are one of the biggest annoyances the universe has aside from rogue meteors and the occasional asteroid belt. They disrupt communications and assuming they move in the right speed, they can disable even the most intricate systems and cause turbulence.  
  
“You a hacker?” Jun asks, when she has both of them stuck inside a tube. She’s tinkering with colorful wires that Jun has no idea about. He simply hands her what she needs. She’s got a few tools, procured in her five month-long stay in the prison. “Or an engineer?”  
  
“A little bit of both,” Kou says, now screwing the panel back. Whatever she did, Jun doesn’t know. He realized refraining to ask her too many questions is far more preferable. She doesn’t seem to like getting asked about what she’s doing every now and then, and if Jun wants to kiss this prison goodbye, he’s going to have to cooperate with her moods.  
  
“How exactly do you fake an ion storm?” he asks as soon as they slip back inside their cell. He’s been here for three days, and in those three days, Kou had him memorize the layout of the prison and their escape route, where he ought to be when the time comes.  
  
“You fuck around their system good enough that when a real ion storm hits, the system interprets it thrice its strength. System reboots to save itself, but since we just tampered with its reboot time, it’s going to take longer than the usual three minutes.”  
  
“How long is that?” Jun’s massaging the insides of his wrist. The cuff isn’t tight, but it’s beginning to be uncomfortable. It stings whenever he tries to be away from Kou. The sooner he has this taken off, the better.  
  
“Six or seven minutes. Maximum of eight.” She’s watching him as he fiddles with his cuff. “Touch that thing more and you might enable the locks. Leave it.”  
  
That gets Jun to stop. “Locks?”  
  
She gives him an unimpressed look, like she’s wondering how come he doesn’t know a thing about how prisons work. In Jun’s defense, the only time he was incarcerated before this had him breaking free even before they managed to put the shackles on him. “These cuffs don’t just work because of a program. It has a safety feature. If we don’t get this out of our wrists before we leave this place, it’s going to link you and me so that we can’t go anywhere without each other. They become literal handcuffs.”  
  
Jun looks at his wrist with hate. “These don’t have detectors, do they?”  
  
She smiles. “The detector’s right here,” she says, and Jun follows her hand until it rests on her nape. His eyes widen, and she just keeps the smile on her face. “What, you didn’t think they put something in you before they placed you here?”  
  
Jun thought about that, but a skin implant detector? That’s harsh. He palpates the area she showed him and sure enough, he can feel a tiny bump embedded subcutaneously.  
  
“When the system shuts down, these will all cease working, right?” he confirms, and she nods.  
  
“Matsumoto, the detectors aren’t as intricate the cuffs.” She sounds so bored and Jun’s thankful she doesn’t have a phaser nearby. “They’re there just so the jailers know we’re still inside the prison. If we shut down the system, a strong hit on the back of the neck should do the trick and destroy the device.”  
  
Jun raises an eyebrow at her. “You just want to knock me out.”  
  
She doesn’t deny it. “I don’t trust you either, but we have to work together. I can’t escape without a ship, and I heard your ship only recognizes you, you self-absorbed asshole.”  
  
Jun laughs a little at that. He tampered with his ship to the point she won’t move unless it’s him sitting on the captain’s chair. It’s not going anywhere without him. “Fine. When’s the ion storm hitting?”  
  
“Tomorrow,” she says, stretching. “Better get ready and stick to the plan because you’re leaving this hellhole tomorrow.”


	2. Chapter 2

When the ion storm hit, it hit pretty bad.  
  
True to Kou’s word, the system malfunctioned to the point it had to shut itself down, thereby opening all the gates. The inmates cheer as they took off, and Jun shares one look with Kou before sticking to the plan.  
  
They head for Paradox.  
  
The prison guards are panicking and Jun has to knock out a few to get them out of his way, and when he turns, Kou’s tossing a phaser to him. It’s locked on stun, which is prison protocol and he can only hope the stun is strong enough to knock out a guy twice his size.  
  
“The cuffs!” Jun calls out as he stuns one guard after another.  
  
“Later, don’t fucking touch it!” Kou calls behind her back. She’s a few paces ahead of Jun and Jun sees to it that he’s watching her back. Sure, he’s her ticket to escape, but he needs her if he wants to get his wrist free.  
  
The commotion is large enough that the emergency alarms are blaring, and by the time they get to the docks, fellow inmates are stealing ships for themselves. Jun runs to where his ship is, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees she’s still cloaked.  
  
As soon as he and Kou are inside, he barks orders for immediate take off. The prison security system has finished rebooting and the gates are closing. There’s only this narrow space Jun has to get through if he wants to see the stars again.  
  
He enables maximum thrusters as he keeps his hands on the nose wheel steering, powering his ship up to full speed. It’s a narrow space, and beside him, he sees Kou’s eyes widen.  
  
“We’re not going to make it,” she says, and Jun snorts.  
  
“Yes we are,” he counters, hitting it.  
  
Alarms are blaring, orders for him and his ship to stand down and surrender flooding his communications, phasers shooting at him and bouncing off his shields, and he steps on it. He cringes when he hears the plating of his ship scrape against the edges of the gates. He can see sparks and smoke as he floors it, and he grips the controls tightly to maintain his course.  
  
Centimeters, mere centimeters. Either he makes it out or they’re going to be crushed by the gates. Jun goes for one final push, one that sends Paradox into violent turbulence.  
  
When they emerge out of the gates after a strong push on his thrusters, he lets out a long breath. “Made it,” he says cockily. “Computer, enable cloaking.”  
  
Kou’s watching him, the signs of her earlier panic still evident on her face. “I’ve heard stories about your piloting.” Jun tilts his head and she continues, “Not bad.”  
  
Jun keeps the ship on autopilot as he stands, offering a hand to help her up. She’s leaning against his console, still gasping for breath. They’ve been through a lot but they’re out, all right.  
  
She accepts, and as soon as they’re standing face to face, Jun gestures to her neck. “Mind if we get rid of the detectors first?”  
  
She smiles. “And what’s my guarantee that you won’t throw me off somewhere? You might knock me out for real while you’re at it.”  
  
“The knowledge that I owe you my freedom,” Jun declares. “I may be a pirate, but I’m not as despicable as you think I am.”  
  
“Are you saying you trust me? To not knock you out? When you’ve only known me for four days?”  
  
Jun ponders. “This ship isn’t going anywhere without me. You knock me out, this ship won’t let you out till I wake up. Sorry to tell you but she only listens to my voice. Unless you’ve got a voice chip implant somewhere in that unattractive prison jumpsuit, be my guest.” He turns his back to her, offering his nape. “Any moment now.”  
  
“A punch should do it. Don’t get knocked out,” she says as a warning, and before Jun can nod or hum in agreement, she delivers the blow.  
  
He heard something crunch inside him, and he has to blink repeatedly to shake himself out of his haze. She packs a good punch, but she stayed true to her promise that she wouldn’t try anything funny. Jun appreciates that. In his world, hardly anyone’s honest. You survive by sifting through the lies or by coming up with an even bigger lie.  
  
When he turns to her, she has her back to him and has gathered her long hair in her fist to expose her nape. “Come on.” There are still the cuffs to take care of, but this close, Jun admires the tips of her spine poking out.  
  
He runs his fingers down her nape, tracing the ridges lightly. Jun hears her breathing become deep and he steps forward, closer to her until he’s got his chest pressed against her back. “The detector,” she reminds him as he leans down and inhales her scent. She got him out. Jun still doesn’t trust her, but she got him and Paradox out. He owes her big time for that.  
  
He thumbs at the small bump on her nape where the device is implanted just beneath the skin. A punch, she said. Jun wants to try something new. The detector feels fragile and non-obstructive. “We’re still cuffed to each other,” she says, but she doesn’t stop him. Jun takes note of that as he breathes down her nape.  
  
“Did you have any plan to get us out of these cuff links?” he asks huskily, making his intentions clear. If she wants him to stop, she would’ve said so. She still has her phaser. Jun would have it on his face if she didn’t want this as well.  
  
“I figured they wouldn’t be so hard to break,” she states, voice still even. Jun admires that. He runs his thumb over the detector as a form of warning before pressing hard, his other fingers wrapping around her neck lightly to keep her in place.  
  
She gasps and Jun feels the tiny device crunch under his fingertip. She must have used the punch excuse just to land a good one on him.  
  
“I know a guy who can probably get us out of these things,” Jun whispers right on her ear. Aiba’s not too far away, just a few hours if they maintain the speed they’re in now. Paradox is running low on fuel due to her hasty escape out of the prison and he needs to refuel her. Only his hometown planetoid has the resources he needs.  
  
“Is he the same guy who got you in the prison?” she asks, and Jun smiles, making sure she can feel it on the shell of her ear. She’s sharp and often unimpressed by his antics, but she’s clearly enjoying this. “Not sure I trust him. He got you captured.”  
  
“I got caught on my own, Kou-chan,” he corrects her, using her name for the first time. He snakes his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. “And you got me out. Both are things of the past.”  
  
“Yes, I suppose you owe me big time for hauling your ass out of there,” she acknowledges.  
  
“How formidable are these things again?” Jun asks, running his fingers down her wrist and stroking the identical cuff. “Surely in five months you know just how much.”  
  
“I know I can’t break them if I’m wearing them,” she tells him, and he laughs right into her ear. “Unless I wanted to stun myself into unconsciousness then fine.”  
  
“So you didn’t really have a plan to break us out of these,” he teases, and when he feels her tensing in his arms, he finally presses her lips to the junction where her ear meets her jaw. “Good thing I know a guy.”  
  
She tilts her head and reaches up to press his face closer to her skin. “Good thing.”  
  
Jun runs kisses down her neck, featherlight presses of his lips to her warm skin. “I have some questions I think you can answer.”  
  
Kou told him she was there for intel. What exactly, she didn’t elaborate. In a few hours they’d be out of each other’s lives, and there are still things Jun wants to know. She might know something about “the artifact” and he can’t waste time, not when Sakurai’s also on his way to get it.  
  
“‘The artifact’?” she asks knowingly. Jun pauses in what he’s doing, momentarily surprised, and he hears her grin. “When you got caught, it was already transported out of the prison in a rogue spacecraft. I heard it’s bound to rendezvous with an even bigger vessel, but I’m not sure if that’s true.”  
  
He’s not too late. As soon as he gets himself out of these cuffs, he can pursue the spaceship carrying the item. “Anything else I might find useful?” he asks, getting over his initial surprise. He reaches up and exposes her shoulder, kissing the curve of it as he pulls her jumpsuit off.  
  
“If you’ve got competitors, best wait it out. I heard it’s got some nasty guard shuttles. Let the others engage in shootouts then slip by when they’re not watching.” It’s not a bad advice. It’s actually a crafty plan, to let others in first as bait and as soon as the shootings are over, he can slip inside the freight ship and steal it.  
  
“I’ll consider that,” he says, guiding her towards the nearest surface, his map screen console. She looks over shoulder with a quirked eyebrow and he shrugs. “Less than two hours before we kiss each other goodbye.”  
  
She turns so swiftly that he’s surprised, but before he gets to react, they both hear something click. They look down hurriedly, and Jun watches in horror as a metal fiber now connects his wrist to hers.  
  
“Fuck,” they both curse at the same time, and she glares at him. “I told you not to touch it.”  
  
“I didn’t do anything,” he says defensively. He tugs his wrist to check if it’s as sturdy as it looks and they both yelp in pain. “Sorry.”  
  
“I should’ve known they’d activate the last safety feature as soon as we’re out of the prison’s vicinity,” she says, sounding angry with herself. “Your guy can get us out of these?”  
  
She’s now perched on top of his console with him standing between her legs. Jun sighs. “He can do anything if he puts his mind to it.” These cuffs shouldn’t be a problem for Aiba. Jun had him dismantle a bomb collar on him some years ago and he did it without detonating the device accidentally. “Computer, call Aiba-chan. Tell him I’m on my way and that he better prepare to get rid of prison cuffs.”  
  
He receives an affirmation from the Paradox AI, and he turns back to Kou, whose earlier aggression has dissipated. She’s now watching him, like it’s only now she has taken a good look on his face.  
  
She tugs at their linked wrists to bring him closer, and Jun finds himself mere centimeters away from her face. She moves, trapping him between her legs, and Jun flashes her a knowing grin.  
  
“Less than two hours, you said?” she confirms, and Jun nods.  
  
“Might as well pass the time. I’ve always wanted to meet the guy who’s crazy enough to steal the crown of the Aquilan monarch on her coronation day,” she says, sounding impressed. He keeps one of his hands on her sides, thumb running circles over her hip bones. The one cuffed to her reaches out to feel her pulse. “Didn’t think I’d be in personal touch with him by visiting a prison.”  
  
“Are you really an engineer and a hacker?” he asks, leaning into her space.  
  
“I won’t steal from you if that’s what you’re worried about,” she confirms. “You don’t have anything I want.”  
  
“Good to know,” Jun whispers before finally tilting his head and kissing her.  
  
\--  
  
So being cuffed to each other wasn’t the way to do it, something they both realized only when they’re both trying to get rid of each other’s jumpsuits without hurting each other by twisting the other’s arms abnormally.  
  
“Fuck these cuffs, seriously,” Jun complains, pulling at her jumpsuit impatiently. They can’t even take their clothes off without the cuffs getting in the way and he shoots them a look of utmost hate.  
  
Kou reaches down to pull a knife out of her boot. Without warning, she undoes the buttons by running the blade through the fabric, exposing enough for Jun to see what he needs to work with. She flips the knife in her hand and offers him the handle, gesturing for him to do the same with his clothes.  
  
He accepts, cutting through one sleeve just so he can finally remove the prison uniform. “Where did you get this?” he asks as he returns the knife to her.  
  
“Always had it, even before you found me there,” she answers, tucking it back inside her boot and pulling him closer. They can’t do much with their wrists linked, but Jun can kiss her and deepen each kiss by cupping the back of her neck with his free hand. He pulls away from her mouth to kiss her neck, her collarbones.  
  
With his free hand he caresses a nipple, lightly pinching the hardening nub as he sucks at her neck. She holds him close by keeping her legs wrapped around him, and Jun wants to see her, hear her, and feel her come apart.  
  
He moves his hand further down, till he’s slipping his fingers inside her panties. They share one look before he slides a finger inside and she moans, reaching up to cup his face and kiss him. They both resolve not to use their cuffed hands for anything other than pulling each other closer, and that’s what she does, her hand wrapped around Jun’s wrist tightly as Jun adds another finger into her.  
  
He lets his thumb trace her clit and she groans right into his mouth, a sound of pleasure that makes his blood run straight to his dick. She’s wet and it’s enough for him to add another one, thumb maintaining pressure on her clit as he begins to fuck her steadily with his fingers.  
  
Her free arm wraps around his shoulders, pulling him closer that his hand is trapped between them. He doesn’t halt in his movements, not when she’s riding his fingers and moaning her satisfaction right against his ear, telling him to go faster, to not stop, that he’s doing it just right.  
  
“Jun,” she pants against his skin, hips bucking and meeting him. She feels so good around him and he wants her, her satisfied noises making him wish he can do more. He wants to see her writhe, to hear her call for him as he gives her what she wants.  
  
Instead, he has to make do with what they have, maneuvering his hand so he can piston his fingers in and out, his thumb moving in continuous circles, relentlessly stroking her clit and feeling her become so wet around him.  
  
She tugs at his earlobe using her teeth when Jun crooks his fingers, expressing her pleasure by whispering his name. She aches for him, Jun can hear it in her voice, and his cock feels confined in his pants.  
  
Still, he doesn’t do anything other than resume what he’s giving her. He turns his head so she can hear him better when he says, “If we’re not cuffed to each other, do you know what I would do?”  
  
Their eyes meet, and Jun sees himself in her nearly black orbs. She’s panting and flushed and moving in tandem with his fingers— she’s getting close. “You’d still be on top of this console and I’d still be between your legs but not like this. I want to feel you. Much more than what I’m feeling now. I want to feel you around me, your nails scratching my back and giving me the slightest tinge of pain, your legs around my hips and pulling me in, keeping me in place, you squeezing tight around me.”  
  
Her hips jolt and she has her cheek resting on his shoulder. “Jun,” she simply says, urging him to keep going. As if he has any intentions of stopping.  
  
“I’ll spread you open till you’re ready, till you’re aching for me and begging to have me fill you up,” he whispers. When she moans, her eyes shut tight, Jun knows she’s imagining it. And it’s doing things to her, making her move faster, her grip on his wrist becoming tighter that she’s probably cutting off his circulation.  
  
“You’d be asking for it again and again, and when you can’t take it anymore, that’s when I’d give it to you.” He has given up going slow and is now fucking her fast, his fingers moving in and out of her effortlessly. She’s so slick and just a little more, just one last push from him—  
  
“I’d fuck you so hard that my name’s the only thing you can think of saying.”  
  
Her thighs clamp down and she comes, gasping his name as she rides the aftershocks. Jun lets her sag her weight against his chest, his thumb rubbing her wrist soothingly. He withdraws from her slowly, and she smiles at him gently, reaching up to tap his nose.  
  
They’re still cuffed to each other and are in various states of undress, but she seems less edgy now. She’s looking at his erection when Jun looks at her. “Want me to do something?”  
  
Jun thinks about it. He leans forward to kiss her cheek just as the Paradox AI tells him they’re thirty minutes away from Aiba’s place.  
  
“No,” he says. At the sight of her frown, he grins. “You can owe me.”  
  
Kou smiles back, and Jun has a feeling this won’t be the last time he’ll see her.  
  
\--  
  
As soon as Aiba dealt with the prison cuffs and got them free, Kou takes her leave, but not before giving Jun her contact. She departs for who knows where, hailing a shuttle to take her out of the Phoenix star system, but Jun knows she won’t be so out of reach.  
  
“Served an eventful time?” Aiba asks, and Jun shrugs. He tells Aiba how he got out of the prison and asks about Sakurai’s whereabouts. “Him? Just some eleven hundred miles ahead of you and three hundred point two miles away from the target.”  
  
Jun thanks him for the info and refuels his ship. He promises Aiba that he’d drop by as soon as he’s got this job out of his life, and Aiba just laughs.  
  
“Just come whenever,” Aiba tells him, waving both hands in farewell as Jun takes off in pursuit of Sakurai and “the artifact”. Aiba’s farewell present to him consisted of the coordinates of Sakurai’s poorly named ship, as well as the valuable information that Mizukawa’s right on his tail unless he gets his ass moving.  
  
Jun’s looking forward to meet Sakurai in the flesh. Mizukawa, not so much. When he asked about Toma’s whereabouts, Aiba did say that Toma stopped by to ask for info while Jun was chilling in the Phoenix prison, but he didn’t elaborate and only grinned enigmatically when Jun tried to poke him for more details.  
  
“You can tell me if you fucked Toma, Masaki. It’s not like it’s a big deal,” he said jokingly, but Aiba simply zipped his lips as an answer. Aiba refused to divulge any information aside from what Jun really needed to get his plans in motion.  
  
Jun hopes he won’t meet Toma on his way. He has no problems meeting with his other childhood friend as long as there’s no job they’re competing over. He’s stubborn and wants to prove how good he is, and while Toma’s a much mellower person, when he’s fired up, he seeks to prove his worth.  
  
In another time, Jun may or may not have asked Toma to partner with him more than once. And in another time, Toma may or may not have turned down the offer, claiming Jun’s a little prickly and volatile to have a stable partnership with.  
  
Whatever. Jun’s the one going to get this item for Nino and he’s going to milk Nino’s money till he’s sure he can buy his retirement in cash. No more risking his life and certain parts of his body. No more reaching to his side for his trusty phaser. It’s just going to be him and his planetoid, growing old in freedom with the stars eternally shining over his head.  
  
In pursuit of Sakurai’s lame spaceship and attempting to avoid Asami-chan’s detectors, he spends his time thinking.  
  
Plan A is basically the one Kou gave to him, that he let the other ships engage first. He can hide Paradox in a nearby asteroid belt. Most detectors won’t figure out it’s a spaceship amidst the rocks because nobody ever wastes time looking at rocks when the prize is right before their eyes. He can’t fuck this up unless he wants “the artifact” to get in the hands of the Corvinians.  
  
That means bye-bye retirement.  
  
Plan B has him rendezvousing with Sakurai’s ship and lying his way through the man’s trust just to get intel. And when he has what he wants, he’ll get a headstart and steal “the artifact” for himself. He has heard stories about Sakurai and his seemingly noble attitude, that he has, more than once, refused payment for his services because of an unprecedented delay.  
  
An honest one among the despicables. Just thinking about it annoys Jun. No one’s that kind, not when you’re a pirate and you have to make do with what you have.  
  
He dislikes plan B because it means he has to sweet talk the jerk who took many jobs from him and lie through his teeth about the guy’s hair, face, his lame-ass spaceship. Sakurai could be ugly as a black-toothed palm reader from Spica and Jun has to convince him that he possesses a face befitting royalty.  
  
Oh god, what if he had gold in his teeth like the typical pirates in Earth’s history?  
  
Jun shudders. Well, that’s only the backup plan. If A doesn’t work. So A better fucking work, Jun tells himself, keeping his eyes fixed on the red dot on his detection screens. In a few hours, he’ll see the ship that’s ahead of him. It could be the freight ship that carries “the artifact” or Sakurai’s.  
  
Jun stretches his limbs, cracking his neck joints and performing crunches. He needs to be ready. Space travel has always been unpredictable, and he’s only gaining speed because Aiba informed him of a shortcut: a wormhole turned up at the edge of the Phoenix star system and it leads to the Columba nebula, which is close to where the ship he’s pursuing is.  
  
What would take him weeks on a normal circumstance is only taking hours, and while he’s thankful for that fast forward, he thinks he can use a nap.  
  
He enables cloaking just to sure, and he shuts his eyes briefly, trying to reset his mind.  
  
\--  
  
His momentary resting of his eyes led to a nap.  
  
Jun wakes up to the Paradox experiencing turbulence. He jolts, finding himself still on course but some asshole is firing at his shields. He’s still cloaked, but whoever’s shooting at him knows where he is and his methods.  
  
There’s a request for a transmission and Jun accepts, hearing a request for him to stand down. He snorts, looking up his viewscreens.  
  
It’s the freight ship.  
  
And it’s her guard shuttles asking for him to disable the cloaking device. It’s a fancy way of asking for his surrender, and Jun allows himself a good moment of considering his options.  
  
So they got him. He’s probably surrounded, but as long as his shields remain up, he’s fine. They just fired on him as a form of warning, and they mostly missed him, given the fact that he’s not visible. Their system must be highly advanced to detect a cloaked ship. Jun needs that tech.  
  
“‘The artifact’,” he says over the communications, smiling when the patrol officer he’s talking to halts in his words. “I’d like to ask for it. I’m asking nicely, unlike you people who chose to fire randomly and wake me up rudely.”  
  
“We do not negotiate,” the person on the other line says. Female this time, and Jun puts in a request for a visual transmission.  
  
“Let’s talk like civilized people. I’m not going anywhere with your guards surrounding me,” he offers.  
  
He waits for a few moments, and in the next, he sees a woman with short hair looking at him. She has a small face and expressive eyes, and she’s looking at Jun like she doesn’t trust anything that will come out of his mouth.  
  
Fair enough.  
  
Jun glances at her nameplate and notes that she’s a sergeant. “Sergeant Mizuhara, is it?” He’s merely reading the characters and he smiles when her eyes narrow at him. “See here, I really need this artifact everyone’s talking about.”  
  
“It’s not an item that can fall in the hands of a pirate,” she says with an even tone.  
  
“Not even a pirate asking nicely? I just got out of prison, you see. I’m asking nicely because the alternative is me taking it without your permission and we don’t want that. If I do that and you catch me, I’m going back to prison and I don’t want that.”  
  
Mizuhara simply tilts her head at him. “What makes you believe that it’s here? Four freight ships departed Caelum. Why this one?”  
  
“Lucky guess,” Jun says, waving a hand. “You haven’t denied its existence. You could’ve said it’s not there and I would have backed off, but you explicitly stated that you don’t negotiate.” He leans forward, smiling at her pretty face. “It’s there, isn’t it? I’d like to have it, if it’s not too much trouble.”  
  
“We can’t give it to you, pirate,” she insists, and Jun puts a hand over his heart in a gesture of mock hurt.  
  
“Even a pirate and a former convict like me has a name.” He smirks when she raises an eyebrow. “Very well. I tried asking nicely and you didn’t bulge. I won’t apologize for what happens next.”  
  
She tilts her chin up at him. “We have six guard shuttles aimed at your location. When we fire, you’ll be nothing but space debris.”  
  
“If you can fire,” Jun says, grinning. He’s still cloaked that they can’t pinpoint his exact location, and provided he maneuvers out of the way quickly, the guard shuttles will end up shooting each other. “But by all means, be my guest. It was nice talking to you.”  
  
He ends the transmission after that, getting his hands on the controls. Hotshot pilot, Nino called him. Time to prove it.  
  
He has one hand on the controls and another on the parking brake. Just some maneuvers here and there once they fire. When the armed shuttles are out of the way, he’ll install Aiba’s virus and hack into the system of the freight ship, disabling its defenses. He has the Paradox AI ready, the virus loaded in her system and ready for transfer as soon as Jun orders it.  
  
It’s not a bad plan. It’s not A or B, but it’s good enough.  
  
As soon as his sensors alert him about an incoming attack, he enables the parking brake and lets his ship do a 180, keeping his hands on the controls as he tilts and goes 25 degrees off course. Four of the guard shuttles took considerable damage upon hitting each other, and the remaining two are experiencing various states of malfunction.  
  
Jun decides to make things easier and engages, firing at the remaining ships with his disruptors. It doesn’t kill whoever’s piloting the shuttles, but it renders the shuttle useless and immobile.  
  
There’s a request for a visual transmission and Jun only accepts it once he’s back on course, correcting the 25 degree difference from earlier.  
  
He smiles at Mizuhara’s pretty face. “I tried asking nicely,” he points out. “I don’t like engaging in combat, but you fired anyway. ‘The artifact’, if you please, Sergeant.”  
  
“I can’t hand it over,” she insists. Jun can detect the panic in her voice, and he’s certain the freight ship already called for aid.  
  
“Then I will take it,” Jun says, turning to his side. “Computer, upload status?”  
  
He watches as Mizuhara’s eyes widen when his computer informs him that they’re at 81% and counting, with an estimated time of completion of twenty seconds. “That’s twenty seconds till your ship powers down. If I fire just one of my phasers on your life support system, it’s all over. I don’t want that. I don’t want to kill anyone. I just want this artifact.”  
  
Mizuhara exhales, seemingly torn. Someone speaks behind her in the native Corvinian tongue (Jun only knows five words in that language and they’re all alternatives for “motherfucker”), and he waits.  
  
When she turns back to him, there’s a fierce determination in her eyes. “You won’t get away with this. We will pursue you, and we won’t stop until it’s returned to its right people and you’re rotting in prison.”  
  
That’s something Jun heard countless times. The Aquilan monarch, the moment he took her crown, swore that she would see him in the death row. That never happened.  
  
“Of course I won’t,” he acknowledges with a smile. “But until you get your people assembled, I’ll be taking it. Whatever it is, place it in an escape pod and eject it in these coordinates.” He forwards the information into their system, and Mizuhara confirms the receipt of it with a slight tilt of her head. “If you even think of putting a bomb in there, know that I’m locked and loaded on your life support. My phasers will fire as an emergency measure if any form of damage befalls this ship, so I suggest not to try anything funny. If I go down, you’re all going down with me.”  
  
She sighs, her shoulders slumped. She’s pretty, and Jun would love to meet her in another time when he doesn’t have to steal anything from her and cause her distress. She just happened to be assigned to the mission. It was all very unfortunate.  
  
“And the virus? Our ship cannot reboot with your virus interfering with our system.”  
  
Jun smiles. “That’s not something your engineers cannot handle. Let them crack it. It’s not too intricate. It will take time to cleanse your system, yeah, but it’s not going to kill you. I didn’t disable life support and air conditioning. I’m not heartless.”  
  
The Paradox AI informs him that an escape pod just landed on the coordinates he set, and he brings the ship closer to it as he asks his sensors to examine it. Deeming it safe, he picks it up. As soon as his AI tells him that it’s in the cargo bay of his ship, he turns back to Mizuhara and smiles.  
  
“I would thank you, but not until I’m sure you handed it over.”  
  
“I’m not the liar and I’m not the pirate,” she says, her voice hard. “You’ve cornered us.”  
  
Jun simply tilts his head and proceeds to his cargo bay to check the contents. The escape pod opens after a bit of prodding, and he sees a silken piece of cloth acting as a bundle lying inside. He picks it up and opens it, finding a key.  
  
This is it?  
  
He tucks it inside his pants pocket and runs back to the control room. “A key?” he asks, unimpressed.  
  
“I didn’t expect you to understand,” Mizuhara says. Jun examines it once more, finding the official seal of the Corvinian dynasty on it. So it’s the real deal. Whatever it opens, that must be the real goods. “This isn’t the last time you’ll meet me, pirate.”  
  
“I hope not,” Jun says sincerely. He likes looking at her face. If they meet again, Jun hopes there’s no phaser between them. She can keep the sergeant uniform if she wants, but she should ditch the weaponry. “Until we meet again, Sergeant.”  
  
He ends the transmission and takes off at maximum speed, heading back for the wormhole. He sends Nino a message that he’s got it and that it’s “a fucking key that should open some precious vault, Ninomiya, I don’t know but you better have the money”.  
  
His estimated time of arrival to Volans is another thirteen days, and Jun stands, letting his ship run on autopilot as he finds a way to strap the key to his neck. “Artifact” his ass. It’s just a key. Why not call it a key? True, he’s not paying attention to Corvinian history since he’s not from there, but why make up some fancy name for something so mundane? It was unbelievable.  
  
Saving his annoyance for later, he slips it around his neck, having attached it to a thick cord made of leather. This way, no one can take it from him.  
  
\--  
  
Approximate ten point six days away from Volans, his sensors alert him that there’s a crash on his present route, remains of a former spacecraft floating and can potentially damage his ship if he’s not careful to avoid them.  
  
Spacecraft malfunctions are typical when there’s a meteor shower occurring, and Jun has been reading shower predictions for the past two days. This part of space is prone to rogue meteoroids, and whoever this vessel once belonged to, Jun feels a bit sorry. He can’t imagine seeing Paradox in ruins. It will break his heart.  
  
His sensors beep, getting his attention, and Jun frowns at what his screens are telling him. “Computer, confirm.”  
  
“My systems are detecting signs of life amidst the debris,” she states, tone as calm as ever.  
  
How the fuck is that possible? “Suit?” Jun asks. Nobody survives in space without gear. Hardly no one survives a spaceship explosion. Unless the pilot of the spacecraft is one lucky bastard who managed to enable his or her spacesuit, then s/he might be alive, but not for long.  
  
His AI simply gives him her readout. “I am detecting an escape pod amidst the debris. My scanners show signs of life. Human. 37% oxygen left.”  
  
Jun runs a hand over his face. You’re a pirate, he reminds himself. You’re a pirate, you’re about to deliver an item that will ensure your freedom. Your retirement. Walk away.  
  
But the Paradox’s sensors keep beeping, and his AI is quite thorough with her announcements. “34%. Inspiration is rapid. 33%.”  
  
“Computer, map out an interference route. Give me manual control,” he says dejectedly. Whoever’s in this vessel, s/he doesn’t deserve to die out of suffocation. That’s horrible. Jun supposes he can drop off the person to the nearest planetoid before he reaches Volans.  
  
“Thrusters at ten,” he orders, his ship slowing down. “Calculate probability of collision with five percent allowance.”  
  
The numbers are out before he even blinks, and Jun uses it to steer his ship correctly and avoid remnants of the spacecraft. It looks like a small ship, and he orders his inbuilt AI to scan each part and piece them together.  
  
She informs him that it’s a former merchant vessel. “Origin is thirty-two hundred miles from Volans. Cargo delivery. I am detecting fibers made of cotton and silk amidst the metal.”  
  
Fabric merchant vessel. How unfortunate. “No one I know?” he asks, just to be sure.  
  
“Eighteen point six seconds to position. No. My systems can’t find the name of the vessel. 27% oxygen. Inspiration increasing by 3%. 24%.”  
  
Jun clicks his tongue. Whoever’s inside the pod is now panicking and breathing heavily, using up all the oxygen. What an idiot. He opens communications and expresses his intentions, that he’s hauling the pod out of here.  
  
He enables the crane, picking up the pod like he did with “the artifact” and placing it inside his cargo bay. He then steers the ship back into course, powering up his thrusters to maximum as he places the ship back in the AI’s control.  
  
He proceeds down to the cargo bay, finding the escape pod still sealed shut. He gets his phaser out just to arm himself as he approaches and tinkers with the console on the side to open the lid.  
  
The lid slides open with a swoosh. There’s a man inside, and he’s looking at Jun like he doesn’t know whether to thank Jun or be terrified of him first.  
  
Jun offers a hand, the one that’s not holding the phaser, and the man eyes the weapon in Jun’s other hand with cautious eyes. “I won’t shoot unless you try anything funny," Jun assures him. "I just saved your ass and you can thank me by not getting creative.”  
  
The man accepts and Jun hauls him up, helping him step out of the pod. He’s clad in typical merchant clothing, a tiny pouch strapped to his waist.  
  
Jun’s wearing his signature outfit, all tight pants and sparkly boots, including his shiny red jacket that matches the Paradox’s plating. The man eyes him carefully, an eyebrow raising at the sight of his feet. Jun simply raises an eyebrow back.  
  
“Thank you,” the man says suddenly, even bowing. “Are you going to kill me? If you seek ransom, I am worth nothing. I lost my vessel and my business abruptly. I nearly lost my life.”  
  
Jun shakes his head, but he doesn’t lower the phaser. The story sounds believable, but better not to be too trusting. “Let’s talk upstairs.” He gestures towards the lifts and the man nods, making his way there. As soon as they’re both inside the lifts, he asks, “What’s your name?”  
  
Jun thinks he may have seen something flash over the man’s eyes, but it’s gone in a second.  
  
“Sho,” he answers with a slight smile, even offering a hand, and Jun doesn’t think twice.  
  
He sets the phaser to stun and shoots the daylights out of Sakurai.


	3. Chapter 3

The moment Sakurai Sho opens his eyes, Jun snaps his fingers right in his face to get him to focus. The stun level wasn’t at maximum but it knocked him out pretty good, to the point Jun was able to strap him to a chair and tie his hands behind his back.  
  
He thought Sakurai would be ugly, but he’s glad to be proven wrong. Still, what a crafty fucker, appealing to Jun’s momentary kindness. Jun’s never listening to his damn AI again. It almost destroyed what he worked so hard for.  
  
“Hello, Matsumoto-kun,” Sho says hazily, blinking repeatedly and shaking his head. “I see the rumors are true.”  
  
Jun raises an eyebrow, pulling another chair to sit on it with his legs crossed. He still has his phaser aimed at Sakurai, and if the guy has some blade Jun failed to find on his person, Jun will shoot him again and not on stun this time.  
  
“About what?” he asks, unimpressed.  
  
“The suit, that sparkly jacket and those boots,” Sho says, cracking his neck joints. “I’ve heard so many epithets for you. Some are true, though there are some I’d like to find out for my own.”  
  
“Keep talking, Sakurai, and I won’t just stun you the next time.”  
  
Sho smiles, his eyes crinkling. In a way, he reminds Jun of Aiba. “You stunned me without warning on first meet. You tied me up on first meet. Stripped me off my effects on first meet. Seems rather cruel.”  
  
“You duped my ass about a rescue when in reality your plan was to probably steal from me,” Jun states, never looking away from Sho’s face. No gold teeth, plump lips, an almost round face that could fool many innocents, and one silver earring on his right ear. He looks kind and approachable, nothing like the asshole who has stolen jobs from Jun over the years. For someone with a lame ship, he sure looks nothing close to unappealing.  
  
“Well, you do have ‘the artifact’. I’d like to have it, if you don’t mind.” Sho keeps the smile, his eyes running over Jun’s form. Jun notices the man’s eyes lingering on his crossed thighs.  
  
“Fat chance,” Jun says. “This one’s mine, Sakurai. You’re not having it unless you’ve got something better to offer me.”  
  
“I’m tied up and completely under your mercy, Matsumoto-san,” Sho says, voice dropping. Jun rolls his eyes at the attempt to be alluring. Sure, Sho has the looks that, on any other day, won’t make Jun think twice about banging him. But not when there’s a job between them and Sho can steal it from him any moment. “Whatever I have to offer must have surely crossed your mind.”  
  
“Sorry, not interested,” Jun says flatly, smirking. “Though I do want to know if you planned for the whole ‘spacecraft accident’ thing. Was your plan an appeal to my mercy, see if I’ll take the bait?”  
  
Sho returns his smirk and Jun wants to punch his pretty face, though he refrains. “You did take the bait.” He doesn’t try to get out of the ropes Jun has wrapped around his torso, his shoulders flat against the back of the chair. Through the thin cotton fabric that Sho wears, his merchant disguise, Jun can see the outlines of his trained chest with every breath he takes. “So I guess the plan worked.”  
  
“You’re not stealing anything from me.” Jun stands, aware of Sho’s eyes following him. He fists a handful of Sho’s hair, baring his neck before leaning in his space. “And you will not steal anything from me.”  
  
Sho’s looking at his mouth the next time he speaks to Jun. “My plan was to get inside your spaceship, Matsumoto-kun.” This close, Jun can smell him, the lingering scent of sweat and whatever cologne he uses. “So far, the plan is working.”  
  
“This is as far as you go, Sakurai-san,” Jun says politely, stressing out the honorific. He doesn’t let go of Sho’s hair, entertained by the view of Sho looking up at him and completely under his mercy. If only circumstances are different. “I’m sorely tempted to see out the rest of your plan, but I have a schedule to adhere to. So I’ll be deporting you to the next planetoid we encounter using the very same escape pod you came from.”  
  
“That’s a shame,” Sho says, matching his polite tone. A part of Jun wants to teach him a lesson for being so cocky and set his phaser’s stun to maximum, yet there’s this another part that wants to see what he’s got.  
  
The same part that wants to kiss him to shut him up.  
  
“I never said I wanted to steal from you,” Sho clarifies, giving him a genial smile. “Maybe I wanted to partner up. I heard you were considering a navigator.”  
  
Jun searches the man’s eyes for truth, and all he sees are Sho’s dilated pupils, like he’s truly enjoying being restrained and Jun’s hold on him. Fucker. Jun can’t wait to see this one out of his life. “You’re a pirate just like me.”  
  
“And yet I can also navigate,” Sho informs him. “There’s a reason why I was almost always ahead of you in any jobs we both chose to accept.”  
  
Jun sneers, leaning closer to breathe on Sho’s face, the grip he has on Sho’s hair tightening minutely. This person is annoying him and he’s now considering a gag just to have him shut up. “And now, because you so kindly gloated right in front me, I’ll see to it I’ll kiss your ass goodbye.”  
  
Sho’s eyes travel down to his neck, or at least to that part of the sparkly jacket that’s covering his neck. “Is it heavy?” he asks, and for a moment, Jun’s confused.  
  
“What?”  
  
“The key,” Sho says, smiling at him. “Is it heavy to wear around your neck?”  
  
That’s it, Jun decides. He gives Sho a sweet, deceptive smile before stunning him again, his phaser set to maximum this time.  
  
\--  
  
Jun moves Sho’s body so they’re in the cockpit as Jun sits himself on the captain’s chair, his legs resting right over the controls. He finally removed the key from his person and tucked it someplace else. He’s the only one who knows every nook and cranny of this ship. Sho can’t find it.  
  
When Sho stirs, the first thing he says makes Jun’s finger itch to pull the trigger of his phaser again. “You like knocking people out, Matsumoto?”  
  
“Only those who annoy me,” he answers coldly, watching with disinterest how Sho shakes his head repeatedly to wake himself up faster.  
  
“So you’ve hidden it in a place that I won’t find even if I tear your ship apart, is that it?” Sho asks conversationally, watching him with slightly bleary eyes.  
  
Jun just tilts his head. Let Sakurai interpret that however he wishes, he thinks.  
  
“I was serious about my offer regarding navigation,” Sho tells him. He sounds a little sad, like he can’t understand why Jun didn’t see the real meaning behind his words.  
  
Well, that’s pretty simple. He’s a pirate and you can’t trust pirates. Especially not someone as pretty-faced as Sakurai who looked like a kind, honest gentleman one moment and would rob you blind the next.  
  
A pirate is a pirate.  
  
“I actually considered it,” Jun says, smirking at him. “See, Sakurai-san, that is exactly why I brought you here in the cockpit. You say you’re serious about the offer? Prove it to me then. Navigate.”  
  
Sho glances at the ropes around his body and tries to squirm out of them for emphasis. “I can’t do that unless you cut me loose, Matsumoto-san.” Sho returns his smirk. “Or should I call you captain? Would you like that?”  
  
Before he met Sakurai in the flesh, Jun didn’t think it was possible to hate him more. But here he is, loathing every fiber of Sho’s being, from his thick but soft hair to that fat bottom lip down to his toned, muscular body and his nicely shaped legs in those tight pants. It seems Jun’s not the only one who has a penchant for such things.  
  
“Don’t you ever shut that mouth of yours, Sakurai?” he asks. This one’s testing his patience, with his cocky smirks and lingering glances on Jun’s form, his voice drops from friendly to sultry when Jun least expects it. No wonder they spread lies to make him more terrifying. Jun wouldn’t be surprised if Sho made up some of those lies himself.  
  
“Do something impressive and we’ll see?” Sho returns, and that’s it, Jun figures with a laugh.  
  
He lowers his legs from the control panel to stand in Sho’s space, reaching up to cup the man’s jaw. How can someone so attractive be the most annoying outlaw in the vastness of space? It was unbelievable. “If you’re as good as you say you are about your navigation skills, surely you can do it even with your hands tied.”  
  
Sho’s eyes are on his mouth again. “So you’re saying I have to prove my worth before you believe anything I say?”  
  
“I’m saying you’re full of bullshit and that in less than a hour, we’ll be right in the vicinity of FR-34 Delta, the currently uninhabited planet on the edges of the Crux belt. You’ve heard of it, of course. Many outlaws claim you’ve got a good brain in you, Sakurai.”  
  
“I’m more than just my brain,” Sho says, and Jun tightens his grip on the man’s jaw.  
  
“Then prove it or I’m dropping you off.”  
  
He lets Sho go to sit back on his chair, gesturing to his map screen console with a wave of his hand. “With me tied like this?” Sho confirms, and there, he finally sounds disbelieving, like Jun’s asking for the impossible.  
  
Well Jun is, partly. He flashes Sho an innocent smile, and for the first time, he sees Sho’s eyes narrow at him.  
  
“Use your imagination, Sakurai. Do something impressive,” Jun challenges, grinning broadly when Sho frowns.  
  
This is going to be interesting.  
  
\--  
  
It takes more than five minutes till Sho manages to move his chair close to the console, with Jun not helping in any way and delighting in the strain he can see on the man’s angular shoulders, those veins popping out of his neck as he moves his body into position and grunts with effort.  
  
Jun watches as Sho silently reads their present coordinates, his mouth moving, eyes flitting across the screen with practiced efficiency. So maybe he is what he says he is.  
  
“You’re ten days away from Volans?” Sho asks, and Jun tries not to smile. Okay, so he is impressed. Sho gathered all of that by just looking at his screens? That’s actually admirable.  
  
“Ten point five,” Jun says. He’s all about accuracy. “Can you speed that up?”  
  
“I can but I’ll need my hands.” Sho turns to look at him expectantly.  
  
Jun smiles. “Nice try, Sakurai.” He stands, approaching the console. “But not happening. Tell me how to do it.”  
  
A slow grin forms on Sho’s face as he looks up at Jun. “You like it when people tell you how to do things, Matsumoto? Like being ordered around?”  
  
Jun snorts, choosing not to play along. Getting himself riled up because of this man will get him nowhere. “The closest planetoid is thirty minutes away. That’s just about the time you’ve got before I kick you out.”  
  
Sho sighs, gesturing to the screen with his chin. “Show me your calculations.”  
  
Jun does, and he waits for a few seconds as Sho reads on, his eyes narrowing as he focuses. When he actually does shut up, he’s attractive. Jun can overlook his annoying personality, can pretend it’s nonexistent provided he doesn’t speak and uses his mouth for other things.  
  
“Remove that ion storm you factored in,” Sho tells him after a while, and Jun shoots him a look of surprise. “There’s no ion storm to worry about.”  
  
“You don’t know that,” Jun counters, but Sho just gives him a look, like he’s saying he actually knows what he’s talking about. “I’m not getting my ship trapped in an ion storm just because it’s part of your plan.”  
  
“There are no ion storms in this part of the galaxy, Matsumoto.”  
  
“And what makes you say that?”  
  
Sho points to the upper right corner of his screen using his chin. “Because your map screen tells me that a black hole just sprouted 56 degrees to your six and approximately forty-eight hundred miles from your ship. Any ion storms forming are bound to get sucked in.”  
  
He has a point, and Jun really fucking hates that. Refusing to acknowledge that Sho has him convinced, he simply reaches over and flicks his finger to eliminate what Sho asked him to. His ETA to Volans, from ten point five days, drops to nine point two.  
  
That’s more than a day, and Jun’s honestly impressed, but of course he can’t let Sho know that.  
  
Jun turns to his side to see Sho watching him, a small smile on his round face. Jun licks his lips, pondering on what to say, but he doesn’t miss the way Sho’s eyes follow his tongue. “I still don’t trust you.”  
  
“I don’t trust you either,” Sho returns immediately, gesturing at himself. “You did save my life, but you’re yet to untie me even if I helped speed up your ship.”  
  
“Pretty sure that even if I didn’t save your life you would have gotten yourself out of that pod.”  
  
Sho grins. “But since you were kind enough to act like a prince charming, here we are.”  
  
“You know, I would have liked you,” Jun says, doing his best to make his voice heartfelt, “if only you knew when to shut up.”  
  
“And where’s the fun in that? I like seeing you riled up.” Sho’s now back to that deep, sultry voice he first used on Jun and Jun wants to knock him out again. “It’s a good look on you, Matsumoto. When I decided to go after your ship, when I learned you’ve got the key, I tried to recall all those fancy epithets and wild tales I’ve heard about you.”  
  
“Humor me.” Jun perches himself on the edge of the console, his body facing Sho. Sho’s looking at his thighs again before his eyes move back up to Jun’s face.  
  
“They said you were shiny,” Sho says, laughing a little when Jun’s eyebrow quirks. He likes his jacket and his boots. They’re custom-made, the only ones in the universe. He takes pride in them. “And that you’ve got a hook for a hand. There’s no hook, but there are other stories about those hands.”  
  
Jun scoffs. That’s tame. “Anything else?”  
  
“Do you know what they say about you in Izar Epsilon?”  
  
Jun’s been there more than once for ship repairs. He tilts his head at Sho in question.  
  
Sho’s eyes are back on his thighs. “They say you’ve got killer thighs.”  
  
“Ah,” Jun says knowingly. “That explains why you can’t look away from them ever since we met.” He grins at Sho’s flushing face. “Why, Sakurai, do you finally believe them?” Jun swings his legs so he has Sho right between them, and when he checks, he sees Sho’s hands clenching and unclenching behind his back.  
  
Like he wants to touch Jun.  
  
Jun keeps the phaser in his dominant hand, reminding Sho that he’s still calling the shots, that just because Sho is actually a pretty decent navigator doesn’t mean he earned Jun’s trust. His other hand taps rhythmically on his thigh, and Sho’s attention is drawn to it.  
  
“What else did they say that you had to see me for yourself?” he asks, genuinely curious.  
  
“That you’re a hard worker and make prompt deliveries.” Sho doesn’t bother to look at him anymore; he’s just watching each tap Jun’s fingers make over his clothed thigh. “That your dedication transpires in everything you do.”  
  
“That’s some high praise you’ve got there,” Jun acknowledges. Maybe Sho’s just making it all up, but the interest Jun can see in his eyes is no lie. “If I let you go, do you promise never to show your face again?”  
  
Sho looks offended. “And we were having such a good time. You’re that eager to get rid of me? Why did you have to bring that up?”  
  
“Because like it or not, Sakurai, you’re not coming with me to Volans. The longer I keep you around, the higher the chances of you stealing from me and escaping.”  
  
Sho cocks his head. “And how should I escape? Your ship only listens to you. Even if I can pilot, she won’t obey me.”  
  
“You were creative enough to devise a plan to get inside my ship,” Jun states. “I think it’s safe to bet that you’re also creative enough to think of a way how to steal from me and leave with the prize.”  
  
“Such high praise,” Sho says, mimicking him from earlier, much to Jun’s annoyance. He’s seriously considering the gag. “If I had known it would only take simplifying an equation to impress the Matsumoto Jun, I wouldn’t have bothered to detonate a stolen craft.”  
  
“So you did steal that merchant spaceship and detonated it.” Jun shakes his head. “Fucker. To think that for a moment, I actually thought you were someone innocent and in need of help. The oxygen was also a trick, then?”  
  
“Oh no, that one was true,” Sho counters quickly. “Had to add a bit of truth amidst the lies to make it believable. You wouldn’t have rescued me if my oxygen levels weren’t depleting.”  
  
That was a high risk. And yet Sho took it just to be aboard Paradox, to meet Jun. If Jun was any other person, he would be flattered.  
  
“If I untie you,” Jun begins, and he can see Sho’s eyes narrowing, “will you promise to behave?”  
  
Sho laughs. “I’m not your dog, Matsumoto. But as you can see, I’m unarmed. You’re the one with the phaser.”  
  
“You can always try to steal my phaser,” Jun says. As a pirate, he knows he can’t trust anything Sho says. But a part of him itches to untie him just to see what he would do.  
  
Also because he’s been tied up for too long and his muscles must be aching.  
  
“But doing so would be dirty and would count as misbehaving so I won’t,” Sho promises, smiling at him. “I swear it on my father’s name.”  
  
Jun gives him one long look. “If you so much reach for my phaser, Sakurai, I’ll stun you repeatedly until I’m sure you’ll only wake up after three days.”  
  
Sho makes a pained face. “Harsh.” He squirms around the binds. “Why don’t you untie me and see what happens? Unless you’re scared of what I might do?”  
  
Jun leans in Sho’s space till they’re almost nose to nose. “If you knock me out, you’re never finding that key.”  
  
Sho’s smirking now. “I know that.”  
  
Jun puts his feet back on the ground and goes around the chair Sho’s seated in. He tucks the phaser back in his belt and starts undoing the knots, and he doesn’t miss how Sho’s hands clench and unclench as soon as he got the ropes off.  
  
Jun stands in front of him again, tilting his head as Sho massages his wrists. He inclines his head towards Jun in thanks. Jun’s more than aware of the nervous energy between them, that they’re both testing each other and trying to predict what the other would do. Sho can steal his prize and his ship, provided he knows how to tinker with Paradox’s systems. He can stuff Sho back in his escape pod and chuck it to the nearest planetoid, seeing his last.  
  
Instead Jun tilts his head, a gesture for Sho to follow him.  
  
Maybe it’s time to finish that stock of Arcadian ale he pilfered months ago.  
  
\--  
  
They end up drinking the ale in the cockpit, Jun in the captain’s chair and Sho in the same chair Jun tied him up in some hours ago. Unlike Nino who only takes five sips and deems that amount more than enough, Sho can hold his liquor. It took them nearly four empty bottles before Sho stood up from his chair and leaned in Jun’s space.  
  
Jun’s tipsy enough to allow it, that he tilts his neck to the side as Sho places his hands on the armrests, inhaling his scent. He takes the glass of ale from Jun’s hand, finishing it for himself, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He places the glass on the nearest flat surface, the control panel behind him, before he leans in once more.  
  
“Why do you wear this?” Sho asks, gesturing to his red jacket.  
  
Jun licks his lips, appreciating the sight of Sho’s slightly reddening cheeks thanks to the alcohol. He looks drunk, but then again, he did have more than Jun did. “Because I like it and it matches my ship.”  
  
Sho’s fingering at the zipper under his chin, so close that Jun can smell the ale from his breath. He’s positive he smells the same way. “The natives of Spica told me you’re good-looking.”  
  
Jun manages to quirk an eyebrow at that. “And? What do you have to say?”  
  
“Well, they weren’t wrong,” Sho murmurs, finally pulling the zipper of his jacket down. He does it slowly that the sound rings in Jun’s ears, and Jun watches how Sho’s eyes drink in the sight of exposed skin. “They also had much to say about your sexual prowess, Matsumoto-san.”  
  
Jun laughs. Spican natives were prone to exaggeration, and he thinks that one rumor probably circulated because he once had his palm read there. The palm reader told him he had an incomparable kind of sexual desire.  
  
Up to now, Jun doesn’t know if that’s true. If he likes something, he goes for it. What does that have to do with his sexual prowess?  
  
“You have expectations, Sakurai?” Jun asks as Sho pushes the jacket off his shoulders. He obliges, removing and tossing it to the side.  
  
“I’m merely curious at present. There are things I want to find out for myself, of course,” Sho whispers, finally leaning in and pressing his lips against Jun’s jaw. “You smell really good.”  
  
Jun places his hands on Sho’s sides, pushing the man off him so he can reverse their positions. Sho’s momentarily shocked when Jun pushes him to sit down the chair, but he adapts quickly, holding on to Jun’s waist when Jun climbs over him.  
  
“You ever shared your chair with anyone?” Sho asks against his collarbone, his tongue licking and tasting the patch of skin there. Jun holds on to his shoulders at first before burying his fingers through his thick hair, pressing his face closer.  
  
“You’re not the first one, Sho-san,” Jun says, laughing a little when he feels Sho’s teeth. Sho’s nipping and sucking now, putting that mouth of his to work, and Jun can’t wait to find out how daring he can be. “So I’m afraid you have to be impressive.”  
  
Sho pulls away, meeting his eyes as he wets his lips. Jun wants to kiss him; that plump bottom lip of his is just asking to be tugged. “Still doubting my creativity? Very well.”  
  
Sho cranes his neck to suck at the pulse point of his neck, his hand reaching up to run over Jun’s nipples. Jun breathes through his teeth, head thrown back as Sho’s mouth travels, licking long lines from his clavicle to his jaw, one hand reaching up to cup Jun’s jaw and tilt his head to side. Sho’s dragging his wet mouth over the expanse of skin, nipping at the ridges created by Jun’s throat.  
  
Jun only pushes him closer, like there’s still space between them and he finally lets out a breath when Sho makes one hard suck, obviously marking him.  
  
The material of Sho’s clothing is a stark contrast against the warmth that his skin emits, and Jun clicks his tongue, fisting at the edges of the fabric and lifting it up, till Sho finally pulls away from him and raises his arms to help Jun remove it.  
  
Around them, the ship’s only lights are the stars beyond and the blinking buttons of the control panel signalling that the ship is still on autopilot. Despite the darkness, Jun can see Sho’s taut stomach, the lines formed by well-trained ab muscles. He grins when something shines on Sho’s navel, liking what he sees.  
  
He runs a finger over the piercing, admiring how the metal warms to his touch. He didn’t think Sho would have a piece of jewelry in this part of his body, but he’s pleased about the surprise.  
  
When he looks up, he sees that Sho’s watching his face. Sho reaches up, holding the back of his head firmly and craning his neck to meet Jun’s mouth halfway, and Jun sighs into the kiss. Sho’s mouth is too warm and too inviting that he’s not certain if he can stop. Feeling those soft lips move against his, kissing him back with the same neediness, is what makes him run his hands down Sho’s arms, up his shoulders to wrap around the girth of his neck.  
  
Sho’s tongue is practically tasting him and Jun moans. Sho makes a pleased noise at the back of his throat, tilting Jun’s head to deepen the kiss. Sho’s other hand moves to the waistband of Jun’s sinfully tight jeans, and Jun bucks to the touch when Sho cups him.  
  
Sho breaks off their kiss to run kisses all over his face down to his jaw. They’re the short repeated kisses that Jun honestly likes, and he returns the favor by finding Sho’s earlobe and sucking on the tiny silver ring passing through it.  
  
He pulls away to admire Sho’s disheveled state: his eyes almost shining in the dark, showing how much he wants Jun, his hair a mess thanks to Jun’s hands, his lips glistening and likely swollen because of the kiss they shared.  
  
Sho ducks down abruptly, lips latching on to his nipple and Jun arches, spine curving. He grips Sho’s shoulders for support, biting his bottom lip to keep himself from moaning when Sho lightly pinches his other nipple.  
  
Jun’s now sure of it: he likes Sho when Sho keeps his trap shut and uses his mouth for things far more worthwhile.  
  
When Sho’s hands slide down his torso, ending in his pants, Sho lifts his face to tilt his head.  
  
Just to piss him off, Jun blinks innocently.  
  
“Much as I like seeing your thighs in this,” Sho begins, even massaging Jun’s thighs for emphasis, “I’d really appreciate if you’d get them off.”  
  
Jun’s lips twitch to point at Sho’s own trousers. Sho fixes him with a look. “I’ll get them off if you get off me and take yours off too.”  
  
That sounds like a promising offer so Jun obliges, climbing off the chair to deal with his pants. He has to lean his weight against the control panel to get his boots off first, and he hears Sho laugh.  
  
“You should ditch the boots next time,” Sho says, now gloriously naked before him. He strips really fast, and that’s a talent Jun can learn to like about him. He turns around, showing Jun everything, and Jun wants to thank that informant from Vega, the one who told him that Sakurai’s got the package. He wasn’t lying.  
  
Sho settles back on the chair and Jun hurries up. Sho offers him a hand as soon as his pants and boots joined his favorite jacket, but he doesn’t accept it, instead leaning in Sho’s space to drop a quick kiss to the corner of Sho’s mouth. “I’ll be back in a bit.”  
  
Sho thumps his head against the chair, frustration evident on his face. “Hurry up.”  
  
Jun smiles before making a quick trip to the bathroom to get what he needs. The disadvantage of his signature pants: he may look devastatingly tempting in them but they can’t hold the things he needs.  
  
He returns, tossing the condoms and lube in Sho’s hands. He finally accepts Sho’s proffered hand, allowing him to help him up. In his haste, their cocks rub against each other, and Jun hisses at the same time Sho groans.  
  
He places both hands on Sho’s face and kisses him, finally letting his teeth clamp around Sho’s fat bottom lip, worrying the tender skin before tugging on it. Between them, Sho reaches down, grasping Jun’s cock and stroking, making Jun sigh against Sho’s mouth.  
  
Sho cups the back of his neck forcefully, drinking in his satisfied sighs and pleased gasps as his hand moves faster. Jun can’t help moving along, fucking into Sho’s fist as he lets Sho know how good it feels by clinging tightly to Sho’s biceps.  
  
Sho pulls away, dragging his wet mouth across Jun’s cheek and craning his neck to whisper in Jun’s ear. “Louder.”  
  
Jun grins at the request and Sho squeezes his cock. He groans, his head thrown back, hips moving in accordance with Sho’s hand.  
  
“Now,” Jun says, reaching down to grasp Sho’s wrist and still his movements. “Now.”  
  
Sho nods, cupping the side of his face and kissing him languidly, almost affectionately.  
  
Jun has no concept of time passing. It might be too soon or too late when he finally feels the press of Sho’s fingers, a tiny smidgen of pressure mixed with coldness. Sho doesn’t push, merely circles the ring of muscle until Jun sighs and bucks his hips to tell him to get moving.  
  
He gets a kiss to his breastbone before a finger slips inside, coated copiously in lube and he holds on to Sho’s shoulders to steady himself. Sho’s watching his every reaction, thumbing at his cheekbone placatingly. Jun simply tightens his grip on Sho’s shoulders to tell Sho he’s more than ready, and Sho inserts another finger, two digits now steadily moving in and out of Jun’s body.  
  
He takes his next breath right next to Sho’s ear, silently begging for Sho to hurry up and give him more. His thighs are quivering, his knees feeling like they’d give up any moment. Sho stretches him slow, taking his time to work him open even if he’s close to riding Sho’s fingers.  
  
He lightly bites on Sho’s earlobe with the earring to express his disapproval and Sho presses a kiss to the curve of his shoulder. Sho takes pity on him, inserting a third one and Jun finally moans, relishing the stretch of three fingers inside him.  
  
Jun tugs on Sho’s earlobe to tell him yes, he’s more than ready, and Sho takes the hint, pulling his fingers out and fumbling in the dark for the condom. Jun reaches down to pump Sho’s cock, causing Sho to moan and halt in his movements.  
  
“Hurry up,” Jun complains, squeezing on the head of Sho’s cock to reiterate his point.  
  
Sho rolls on the condom and Jun guides Sho’s cock to his hole, Sho’s hands soothing his sides. He sinks in as soon as he feels the tip pressing against him and they both moan, Jun with his head thrown back and Sho with his mouth right over Jun’s clavicle.  
  
Jun moves experimentally, using his knees to lift himself up slowly from Sho’s cock. He rolls his hips, taking in more of Sho with each slow grind. Sho’s filling him up and he feels so full, biting his lip at how good it feels.  
  
A bead of sweat drops from his hair and travels down his spine, causing him to shiver. He moves quickly now, bouncing on Sho’s lap, the sounds of his sweaty skin coming in contact with Sho’s filling his ears. Sho’s moaning under him, his breath ragged and pulse rushing. Jun can feel his thrumming heartbeat underneath his fingertips. He has one arm looped around Sho’s shoulders as he fucks himself on Sho’s cock, his other hand pressed against Sho’s chest.  
  
Sho searches for his mouth, tilting his head and meeting Jun for a sloppy kiss. Sho’s hands are now on his ass, squeezing and urging him on, and Jun moves faster. He lets out one breathless moan of Sho’s name when Sho hits his prostate, causing his thighs to shake as electricity runs up his spine.  
  
“Jun,” Sho’s saying repeatedly, every time Jun sinks down to the hilt. “Fuck, Jun, yes—”  
  
“Touch me,” Jun begs, reaching for Sho’s hand and putting it on his cock. “Sho, come on, Sho—”  
  
Sho does, pumping his dick in time with their movements, and just when Jun thinks he’s having all of it, Sho thrusts his hips up, meeting him halfway and he groans, low and needy that he clamps a hand over his mouth to keep the noises to himself.  
  
“Don’t,” he hears Sho say, feeling him grasp his wrist and shove it out of the way. “I want to hear you.”  
  
Jun nods, his eyes still shut tight. He’s moving faster now, fucking himself on Sho’s cock and fucking Sho’s fist at the same time and already he can feel the insides of his thighs tingling. His body is slick and burning, Sho’s continuously filling him up, driving into him so deep every time that there’s a constant pressure to his prostate.  
  
Sweat slips down his face, his neck, past his torso. He’s not sure whose warmth it is he feels: his or Sho’s or both of theirs combined. Sho’s sucking at his neck as his hand moves relentlessly and Jun’s brought closer and closer till he can’t take it any longer, finally arching and clamping down, moaning so loud that it’s the only thing he hears past the constant buzzing in his ears. He’s seeing nothing but white, trapped blissfully in that orgasmic haze that he only minutely feels Sho’s desperate thrusts, each snap of his hips harder than the previous.  
  
“Jun,” Sho’s muttering, lips attached to his neck. “Jun.”  
  
“Yes,” Jun hisses encouragingly, and Sho makes one sharp thrust before he finds release, grunting in pleasure and holding Jun’s body close.  
  
Sho slumps back against the chair, panting in his exhaustion. Jun reaches up to play with Sho’s hair, at the sweaty strands that are clinging to Sho’s nape. He’s breathing raggedly against Sho’s chest, feeling like he can’t move yet.  
  
“That,” Sho breathes, voice shaky, “that was really good.”  
  
Jun can’t help the grin forming on his face. Sho’s not the first person who said that and he certainly won’t be the last. Jun’s just glad he’s the same for everyone he chooses to sleep with. He rewards Sho’s honesty with a soft kiss to the man’s chin.  
  
He traces circles over Sho’s chest as he waits for his own heartbeat to calm down. Sho’s caressing his sides, his deep intakes of breath making Jun’s eyelids droop. The ale from earlier combined with his exertion, he’s starting to feel a little sleepy.  
  
He kisses Sho lightly before moving to stand up, grunting when his knees feel like they don’t wish to obey him. He offers a hand to Sho who finally removes the condom, tying it off.  
  
“Shower?” Jun offers, and Sho smiles before accepting. Jun pulls him up, but before he can step away, Sho wraps an arm around his waist and holds him close.  
  
“There’s still one rumor I’d like to know the truth about,” Sho whispers, kissing the corners of his mouth. Jun hums in question, and he feels Sho smile. “There are those in Spica who say you don’t have a refractory period.”  
  
Jun laughs loudly, burying his face momentarily on Sho’s shoulder. When he finally collects himself, he simply shakes his head and drags Sho towards the bathroom.  
  
“I’m not quite sure about that so let’s find out?” he suggests, and as soon as they’re under the hot water, Sho pulls him closer, already leaning in.  
  
\--  
  
He’s sore the following morning, body aching pleasantly in various places.  
  
But when he looks around, he sees that he’s alone.  
  
That gets him out of bed immediately, not bothering for his clothes. He runs, searching the hull of the cockpit where he kept the key and he curses when there’s nothing in the compartment other than the ties he used to bind Sho’s hands together.  
  
There’s a transmission request and Jun plops down the captain’s chair before accepting it.  
  
It’s from Sho, and Jun shakes his head upon the sight of him.  
  
“You asshole,” he accuses, and Sho holds his hands up.  
  
“Don’t get me wrong, Jun,” Sho begins just as something stings on Jun’s neck. An undeniable bruise courtesy of Sho. After they fucked in the captain’s chair, they spent the rest of the night fucking in different areas of Jun’s ship. “I enjoyed last night, I really did. I got to know you personally in ways I didn’t even imagine, and I also got to dispel some rumors for myself. They certainly weren't kidding about your stamina. I liked being with you, and honestly, I might have to search far and wide to get laid as good as that.”  
  
Jun snorts, fingers already fumbling at the console to his side, setting up his sensors to map out the trajectory of Sho’s ship.  
  
“I always wondered where that lame-ass spaceship of yours was parked,” Jun says, his tongue against his cheek. “How come I didn’t detect it?”  
  
Sho smiles. He’s not even offended by the lame comment, the jackass. “Parked it right next to the satellite of DE-Gamma so your sensors can’t find it. You have to admit, that was clever.”  
  
That was more than clever. The satellite’s gravitational force interferes with the signal Sakurai’s spaceship emits, and so even if Paradox’s sensors detected it, it still came out as a gravitational readout. “I suppose you also stole one of my spacesuits?” Sho simply shrugs his shoulders, looking entirely unapologetic. “How did you get my ship to follow you? I don’t remember asking it to drop you off somewhere.”  
  
“You didn’t have to,” Sho tells him, leaning back against his chair. Jun can see how the bruise he left on Sho’s neck is now a dark shade of purple against an otherwise pale skin, and he’s pleased that he was able to leave a mark like that. “My ship was set to rendezvous with yours and I only had to enable your ship’s emergency evacuation measures then I’m out, free to return to my own ship.”  
  
And Jun slept through the whole thing because he was utterly fucked out. Wonderful.  
  
“Keeping it under the hull was ingenious, by the way,” Sho acknowledges. “Took me hours to find it, and I only did because the metal plating you kept it under squeaked when I stepped on it.”  
  
Jun just shakes his head. He knew it was bound to happen and he’s honestly not surprised. If anything, he’s a little amused. He’s pissed, yeah, to the point that he wants to make Sho pay, but he’s also thrilled Sho has given him a reason to get back at him.  
  
“No hard feelings between us, Jun,” Sho says sweetly, and Jun wishes he can punch him. “I wasn’t lying when I said I liked being with you. When this is all behind us, come find me again. I promise you don’t have to rescue a dying man the next time we meet.”  
  
Jun’s eyebrow twitches in his annoyance. Sho suddenly claps his hands, like he just remembered something. He reaches down and pulls out the bottle of Grus brandy Becky gave to Jun and Jun’s nostrils flare.  
  
“This is really, really, really good stuff. I only had one shot so far and it’s as good as people claim it to be. You know, we should have drank this rather than the Arcadian ales. We could have spent more time getting acquainted with one another had we shared this one.”  
  
“Prick,” Jun accuses, though not entirely with hate. He’s actually impressed. What else did Sho steal from him? The key, the brandy, one spacesuit… He nearly rolls his eyes when he finds his phaser placed on top of the control panel, right where he can surely see it. True to his word, Sho didn’t steal it.  
  
But he still fucking stole from Jun, and that’s unacceptable.  
  
Sho tilts his head, eyeing him carefully. Jun is not embarrassed about his nakedness, at his skin littered with bruises from Sho’s mouth. He licks his lips and can’t help the grin on his face when he sees Sho’s eyes following the movement of his tongue. Sho must be remembering how good Jun’s tongue felt in certain spots of his body.  
  
“I like how you look,” Sho says honestly in that baritone that Jun heard for so many times the night before.  
  
Still, Jun doesn’t let it affect him. “Thief.”  
  
Sho sighs, reaching inside his shirt to pull the key out. He’s wearing it as a necklace, the jerk, and he raises it for Jun to properly see. “You want this back?”  
  
“That one’s mine, Sakurai,” he says pointedly, stressing out Sho’s surname. Beside him, his console beeps, the search finally completed. Sho’s spaceship, Take Off, is only six hundred miles away.  
  
Sho grins, obviously catching on to him finding out. Maybe it was his plan all along. “You know where I am,” he says, tapping the key against his lips. He meets Jun’s gaze evenly before he smirks.  
  
“Come and get it.”  
  
The transmission ends, and Jun hurriedly follows the course Sho’s ship has taken. He sends word to Nino about a slight delay, telling the businessman that he’s got some score to settle.  
  
He’s got a pirate to catch.

**Author's Note:**

> Eta: this fic now has [a graphic](http://sandralovesyou.tumblr.com/post/132699611410), courtesy of the lovely [sandralovesyou](http://sandralovesyou.tumblr.com) @ tumblr. Thank you very much!


End file.
